1.
Learning objectives: to explore broadcasting
regulations surrounding Black Mirror.
Learning outcomes: to have a thorough knowledge
of Black Mirror and how it was regulated.
2.
• UK communication fast facts
• 74 per cent of adults have broadband
• 6.8 Mbit/s is the average actual broadband speed
• 48 per cent of adults have a social networking profile
• 23.7 million residential fixed landlines
• 91 per cent of adults personally own/use a mobile phone
• 129 billion text messages sent in 2010
• 60 per cent of households own an HD-Ready TV
• 54 per cent of households have a games console
3.
Read through the OFCOM report and highlight any
information that you feel forms a part of Black
Mirror’s social commentary.
4.
Ofcom’s Director of Research, James Thickett, said:
•“Ofcom’s 2011 Communications Market Report shows
the influence that communications technology now has
on our daily lives, and on the way we behave and
communicate with each other.
•“Our research into the use of smartphones, in
particular, reveals how quickly people become reliant
on new technology, to the point of feeling ‘addicted’.”
5.
Listen to James Thickett discuss the findings of the
Communications Market Report on the Radio 4
Today programme.
(broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 4th August 2011.
Make a note of information that is relevant to how
Channel 4 continues to embrace new technologies.
7. Using the information below from the C4 website,
make a spider-diagram of the key aspects of 4OD.
Channel 4 has been a pioneer in VoD. It was
the first broadcaster to launch a
comprehensive video-on-demand service in
2006 and the first UK broadcaster to make all
its archived content available online, alongside
catch up, free of charge. 4oD is the UK's
leading commercial VoD platform, available
online at Channel4.com and via YouTube, on
TV platforms via Virgin Media, BT Vision and
TalkTalk, as a catch up service on PS3, and as a
download-to-own proposition on iTunes.
8.
Learning objectives: to examine the relevance of the
Digital Economy Act 2010 and complaints made ot
OFCOM about the programme
Learning outcomes: to link the Act to Black Mirror
and have examined complaints made to OFCOM
about the programme
9. Starter
Debate and discuss the following
information…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/table/2011/dec
/16/top-100-most-complained-about-tv-shows-2011
10. 2010 Digital Economy
Act
The Digital Economy Act 2010 requires Channel 4 to participate in:
the making of a broad range of relevant media content of high quality that, taken as a whole,
appeals to the tastes and interests of a culturally diverse society;
the making of high quality films intended to be shown to the general public at the cinema in the
United Kingdom;
the broadcasting and distribution of such content and films;
the making of relevant media content that consists of news and current affairs;
the making of relevant media content that appeals to the tastes and interests of older children and
young adults;
the broadcasting or distribution by means of electronic communications networks of feature films
that reflect cultural activity in the United Kingdom (including third party films), and
the broadcasting or distribution of relevant media content by means of a range of different types of
electronic communications networks.
Which of these points are relevant for Black Mirror? Highlight key terms in the Act and match these to
textual evidence from Black Mirror.
11. “I OBJECT!”
Black Mirror "pig sex" sparks 332 complaints. 7 December, 2011 | By Balihar Khalsa
Report from Broadcastnow.com,
The first episode of Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror attracted more than 300 complaints to
Ofcom and Channel 4.
The drama trilogy kicked off with a fictional storyline about a Prime Minister being
blackmailed into having sex with a pig. It was broadcast at 9pm on Sunday 4
December and has attracted over 132 complaints to Ofcom and around 200 complaints
directly to C4. The nature of the complaints is understood to be around the harm and
offence guidelines. The episode started with the Prime Minster being woken up in the
middle of the night to be told a member of the royal family had been snatched. Her
kidnapper was demanding he has intercourse with a pig live on TV. The rest of the
programme looked at how the PM dealt with the situation against the backdrop of
growing pressure from the public after the blackmail video was uploaded to YouTube.
A C4 spokesman said: “Charlie Brooker is a unique voice in drama and Channel 4 is there to
give a space to those kinds of voices. “Black Mirror used a challenging plot to make a
serious point about the difficulties faced by those in power as the internet enables
news to spread faster than they can cope with. “Nothing graphic was shown and
appropriate content warnings were given before the programme was broadcast.”
Black Mirror was ordered by head of comedy Shane Allenand produced by
Endemol’s Zeppotron.
1. Which guidelines provided by OFCOM were accused of being broken?
2. What defence is offered by C4? Is this comparable to other ‘unique voices’ on C4?
12. Complaints made to Ofcom
(including Black Mirror)
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/enforce
ment/broadcast-bulletins/obb213/obb213.pdf
