Regulation

Section 2

Film and Video Games

Why do we regulate the media?

• Generally the reason why we regulate is surrounded by the ‘effects debate’. That is, the various debates surrounding how the media can effect people.

Media Effects

• Some case studies are more directly concerned with effects – the classification and regulation of video games, television and film are all to do with the need for authorities to protect people from material which might cause social harm of one kind or another.

Regulation

• Classification – preventing people from accessing material that is deemed to be unsuitable for their age

Regulation

• Censorship – removing material from public access altogether

Manhunt 2

Why Regulate? Audience Theories

• According to Barker and Petley (1998) there is an obsession with trying to prove that the media are responsible for a range of social problems and the researchers who want to find this link carry on despite the lack of evidence

Effects Theories

• Hypodermic Syringe – which views audiences as passive recipients of ‘injected’ messages – this is largely rejected today

Effects Theory

• Cultivation Theory – this tries to prove that we form views and opinions about people over time as a result of exposure to media and thus people become stereotyped

Effects Theory

• Desensitisation- this is the idea that the more violence we see, the less shocked we are by it in real life.

Effects Theory

• Copycat Theory – this claims that individuals may act out what they see modelled on the screen – this gets a lot of media attention - James Bulgar and Columbine killings

Effects Theory

• Uses and Gratifications – this is more about what people do with the media to satisfy various individual and social needs that we have

Effects Theory

• Reception Theory – show how we make different polysemic meanings from the same media

• English has many words which are polysemous. For example the verb "to get" can mean "take" (I'll get a picture), "become" (she got scared), "have" (I've got three dollars), "understand" (I get it) etc.

Effects Theory

• Ethnography – this looks at peoples response to media from their point of view in the reading contexts

• It is often employed for gathering empirical data on human societies/cultures. Data collection is often done through participant observation, interviews, questionnaires, etc. Ethnography aims to describe the nature of those who are studied (i.e. to describe a people, an ethnos) through writing

Effects Theory

• Postmodernism – this looks at how the boundaries between reality and media have become blurred.

Effects Theory

• Gauntlett (2007) now argues that web 2.0 media erodes the boundary between producer and audience, to the extent that it makes little sense to talk about media audiences in this way anymore. He calls this approach media studies 2.0

Video Games

Video Games

Research to improve understanding of what players enjoy about video games, and to explain their preferences for Particular games

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/downloads/pub/Policy%20and%20Research/BBFC%20Video%20Games%20Report.pdf

Byron Report

• The Byron Review was a report delivered on the 27 March 2008 to the UK Government (in particular, the Department for Children, Schools and Families). It was authored and overseen by Dr Tanya Byron.

• The Review focuses on the use of video games and the Internet (particularly social networking websites) by children, and discusses the use of classification and the role of parenting in policing these.

The Byron Report 2008

• No direct evidence for the harmful effects of violent video games on children

• No evidence of the desensitisation as a result of playing video games

• The specific socio cultural and psychological context of the individual game player is crucial

Byron Report

• The idea that video games are addictive for children is based on prejudice about the activity rather than any evidence

• While the media (including games) may have a negative effect on children, it should not be singled out as a cause

Outcomes of Byron Report

• Targets and Action Plan to outline

- the way games are advertised to the illegal age group

- Changes to the system of classification of video games

http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/byronreview/pdfs/byron_action_plan.pdf

The System As it Is ….

The BBFC who also classify films; outline guidelines to game developers.

However, what are some of the most noticeable differences between the way consumers access and use film and video games?

Differences ……

• Games include cut scenes

• Games include ‘gameplay’

BBFC

• BBFC Website – clear guidelines for parents/students including a search facility

• Identification of ratings is exactly the same for film as for video games. Therefore identification should be required at the point of sale or rental and parents should be on guard to prevent illegal access

Regulation of Video Games

• What are the problems? Why is the current system not working?

Controversial Games

• Children are not the intended audience for GTA / Manhunt

• Issues of protection are due to the system of Regulation failing not the fault of game designers

• However, do games develop promotional material to target underage audiences?

Byron Report

• Recommended that there should be a review of the regulation of game advertising, along the lines of the promotion of tobacco and alcohol

Look at the following game

• BBFC – Parent Page and search for the following games

• Sims 2• GTA – IV• Harry Potter and the Order of the PHX

Click on the game info and report back your findings - what is the information that is available to parents?

Who regulates Video Games?

• BBFC and PEGI

PEGI is a European rating system; the UK version is the VCS – Video Standards Council.