Media law and regulation

Laws and regulations must be put in place so that information published by journalists do not harm or affect others.

Some Ethical Issues include:

• Protecting the vulnerable 
• Avoiding the use of hidden cameras and recordings unless necessary.
• Respecting people's personal life and privacy
• Double checking resources 

These laws should be kept in mind for all media pieces when producing and releasing media. Although these laws are usually targeted at journalists as they can be very invasive and misjudging.

The role of mass media

• Mass media comes in many different forms such as print media, online media, broadcast media, cinema and film
• Social and political life would be impossible without mass media
• Mass media controls people's opinions and thoughts that change depending on what channel they watch or newspaper they read

Copyright Issues in the Media Industry

• For a piece to be copyright it must be original and not be copied from anywhere else.
• It must include a certain degree of creativity 
• Once an original work is fixed in a tangible medium, the creator has automatically gained copyright over the work.
• An example of breaking these copyright laws would be if I went and sold Madonna's music and claimed it as my own