Consultation with Young People on the Proposed Ofcom Broadcasting Code

This report outlines the findings of a consultation with young people in the United Kingdom about the Ofcom Broadcasting Code which came into effect in July 2005. The research with young people was conducted within the wider context of the public consultation that was undertaken by Ofcom in the second half of 2004 when the Code was being drafted. 40 young people (20 males and 20 females) between the ages of 12 and 17 were included as participants in this consultation.

Overall, the young people who were included in this consultation understood the need for some kind of regulation of TV content. In general they felt that the aim of such regulation was to protect children from harmful or misleading influences. However, none of the participants felt that they themselves needed such protection, and believed that the definition of a ‘child’ was at least a year younger than themselves.

The research found that participants tended to focus on the inconsistencies of media regulation. For example they could not understand how such a Code could work when there were different sets of guidelines for different media types. The main example of such inconsistencies cited by participants was the internet. They claimed that the internet was a main source of information for young people, and that any of the Code topics not shown on television or presented after the watershed could easily be accessed through the internet by a young person with only moderate Internet skills.

Furthermore, smoking, drinking, drugs, sex, religion are, to some extent, seen as personal choice. Participants argued that young people needed to make up their own minds about these issues, and seeing them in the media helped them to form their views. However, participants warned that any portrayal of such issues needed to be balanced and fair to ensure that young people do not switch off because they feel they are being ‘preached at.’ When dealing with issues covered in the Code, young people emphasise the need for realistic data that provides insight into the positive and negative aspects of the issue. They want the opportunity to make up their own minds about an issue, and react strongly against situations where they feel that information is in some way being censored to only provide the ‘acceptable’ view. Furthermore, it was evident from the research that fear based messages (e.g. graphic anti-smoking campaigns) provoked suspicion and distrust amongst participants. The implication from these findings was that participants felt that if material is presented either as wholly bad, or as wholly good, it could easily be interpreted as being very appealing.