INTRODUCTION

In this chapter we seek to offer an analysis of the framework of media regulation in the UK which gives appropriate attention to the increasing significance of developments emanating from Europe. We have emphasised earlier the huge changes in media regulation and its context which have occurred since the appearance of the last edition of this book in 1999, and in that time there has been in particular a considerable expansion in the role of the EU, driven in the main by technological developments in the media sector. The same period has also seen a significant increase in the extent of self- and co-regulation in the media. These phenomena raise a range of important issues which have come increasingly into the spotlight over the last seven years, and demand much closer scrutiny than hitherto.

The role of the UK courts in the regulatory process, while still relatively weak, has also expanded in the media sphere over recent years. The impact of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA), particularly in relation to the regulation of media content, has been significant. We have seen that the promulgation of Ofcom's ‘Content Code’, along with a number of other measures, have been impacted upon by the implementation of certain of the rights in the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law by the HRA.