Media, Regulation of

Media regulation refers to all means by which media organizations are formally restrained or directed in their activities. In this context, the reference is primarily to external control by way of public policy, law, and regulation, although it also includes some forms of self‐regulation, especially when these are intended to meet public concerns. The term media refers to publicly available means of communication, in particular the mass media of print, film, television, and radio, however distributed. Media regulation may also apply to the distribution infrastructure, including cable, wireless, satellite, etc. New means of communication, especially the Internet, may be an object of regulation, especially where they are used as pubic means of communication. The emphasis in this entry is on the external regulation “in the public interest” and with attention to matters of organization and content rather than economic and technical matters. Internal regulation is only considered where it has public causes or consequences. However, new forms of interactive communication are blurring the distinction between public and private communication and the forms and purposes of regulation are changing. Media regulation has always responded to changes in communication technology and successive “regimes” of media regulation can be identified, largely matching the dominant technology of the time

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