CHILDREN Hate Mail forced onto top shelf...

No, not really, but as with the MonkeyDust animated satire "Curtisland", this is rather instructive. Chris Morris would surely approve. The absurd red-top response to his 'Paedogeddon' Brass Eye special, alongside articles telling us 15 year-old Charlotte Church was "chest swell", is a great demonstration of the moral panic concept (most notably studied by John Springhall [see book cover below], building on Stanley Cohen's defining work, Folk Devils and Moral Panics).

http://newsthump.com/2014/06/05/daily-mail-to-become-top-shelf-publication-to-protect-children-from-extremism/.

This is a fascinating read

Chris Morris: Brass Eye, Day Today, Four Lions

I'll come back to this, but just wanted to make sure there are easy to find links/materials on various Morris creations which are useful for showing up issues with both broadcast regulation (and the moral panic concept/process with the press) and film regulation.

Here's the controversial Brass Eye Special, "Paedogeddon", that got labelled filth and sick ("the sickest show ever") by a frothingly furious press, who of course demand freedom of the press from any government interference, but equally insist on government interference for the content (not the ownership!) of other media, in full so you can judge for yourselves.

REMEMBER, any celebrities or politicians seen pontificating in these shows aren't in on the joke; they consider their contribution to be worthy. Morris is deconstructing how the news media lazily rely on cliches and sensationalism to report on important issues, relegating accuracy, reflection or context to a lesser consideration.


TBC

THE CAKE EPISODE

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PCC's third party policy

This remains an area of great controversy. See http://blogs.journalism.co.uk/editors/2009/10/19/pcc-and-the-third-party-issue/ for example. They frequently refuse to rule on cases if the person/people directly effected do not complain.

OfCom and the ASA have no such rule, though OfCom in particular will not automatically rule on any complaint, and have followed in the steps of its predecessor, the ITC, in condemning press-organised write-in campaigns such as that over Jerry Springer the Opera (the ITC condemned the Daily Mail's gross hypocrisy in its reportage of the Brass Eye 'Paedogeddon Special'). The June 2004 ASA ruling on a Rihanna perfume (Rogue) ad was prompted by a single third party complaint, for example.

Its questionable whether the person involved is always aware or even competent to complain, but this remains the assumption

They fear being inundated as an organisation with just £2m annual budget.

The PCC don't want to be automatically forced by pressure groups to get into dialogue/judgements 

The PCC publish a list of FAQs, including this: