1912-1949

1916: T.P. O'CONNOR

• Appointed President of the BBFC.
• Summarised the Board's Policy around 43 grounds for deletion, as guidelines for examiners. 
• This list was taken from the Board's annual reports between 1913-1915.
• The Board felt that these set of rules would gain the public's trust and relevant bodies due to the strictness. 

43 Grounds for Deletion:

1. Indecorous, ambiguous and irreverent titles and subtitles
2. Cruelty to animals 
3. The irreverent treatment of sacred subjects 
4. Drunken scenes carried to excess 
5. Vulgar accessories in the staging 
6. The modus operandi of criminals 
7. Cruelty to young infants and excessive cruelty and torture to adults, especially women 
8. Unnecessary exhibition of under-clothing 
9. The exhibition of profuse bleeding 
10. Nude figures 
11. Offensive vulgarity, and impropriety in conduct and dress 
12. Indecorous dancing 
13. Excessively passionate love scenes 
14. Bathing scenes passing the limits of propriety 
15. References to controversial politics 
16. Relations of capital and labour 
17. Scenes tending to disparage public characters and institutions 
18. Realistic horrors of warfare 
19. Scenes and incidents calculated to afford information to the enemy 
20. Incidents having a tendency to disparage our Allies 
21. Scenes holding up the King’s uniform to contempt or ridicule 
22. Subjects dealing with India, in which British Officers are seen in an odious light, and otherwise  attempting to suggest the disloyalty of British Officers, Native States or bringing into disrepute British prestige in the Empire 
23. The exploitation of tragic incidents of the war 
24. Gruesome murders and strangulation scenes 
25. Executions 
26. The effects of vitriol throwing
27. The drug habit. e.g. opium, morphia, cocaine, etc
28. Subjects dealing with White Slave traffic 
29. Subjects dealing with premeditated seduction of girls 
30. 'First Night' scenes 
31. Scenes suggestive of immorality 
32. Indelicate sexual situations 
33. Situations accentuating delicate marital relations 
34. Men and women in bed together 
35. Illicit relationships 
36. Prostitution and procuration 
37. Incidents indicating the actual perpetration of criminal assaults on women
38. Scenes depicting the effect of venereal disease, inherited or acquired 
39. Incidents suggestive of incestuous relations 
40. Themes and references relative to 'race suicide' 
41. Confinements 
42. Scenes laid in disorderly houses 
43. Materialization of the conventional figure of Christ

THE YEARS BETWEEN THE WARS

• During this time, horror, gangster and those featuring aspects of sexuality caused the most concern. 
• Films classified 'A' banned children from seeing them, even though the BBFC had removed scenes in order to gain a certificate. 
• e.g. Frankenstein (1931) was banned from being shown to children by the Manchester and London Council, even though a scene where a girl was drowned was removed. 
• This resulted in a new advised classification, 'H' which warned audiences, especially children, of the horror theme.

1947: ARTHUR WATKINS

• Appointed Secretary to the Board in 1948 by Sir Sidney Harris.
• Both men came from the Home Office. 
• Film-makers came to the BBFC during the script-writing process, for advise before their film went into production. 
• Watkins and Harris therefore formulated three new principles;
  

1. Was the story, incident or dialogue likely to impair the moral standards of the public by extenuating vice or crime or depreciating moral standards?
2. Was it likely to give offence to reasonably minded cinema audiences?
3. What effect would it have on children?

Children were a huge cause for concern, and apart from the 'H' category which was only advisory, there was no category which would exclude children. Therefore, and 'adults only' category was becoming highly desirable, in order to protect children, as well as giving film-makers the freedom to treat adult subjects in an adult fashion. 

Case studies

#1 - A Man V The Northwich Guardian

• Clause 6 - A child under 16 must not be photographed. The boy featured in the stills was 15 and should have been protected as they didn't have the parent's consent. 
• Public right to know - The video contains footage of teenagers committing a serious crime, so it's in the interest of the public to be aware of their behaviour.
• Clause 3 - Everyone is entitled to respect for his private life. The fact that the boy decided to upload the video onto Youtube, which can be accessed by the public, meant that this clause had no effect. 
• Does the publication of the video on the newspaper's website and of the stills in the print version improperly identify a 15 year old boy? I don't think it does, as this boy decided to take a video of his actions and therefore, should have been aware of the consequences and people's opinions. 

#2 - A Man V Zoo Magazine 

• Clause 6 - A child under 16 must not be photographed. The girl featured was 10 years old. 
• Clause 3 - Everyone is entitled to respect for her private life. Were photographed in a public area, at a Premiership football match. 
• However, as she was only a child, her face should have been blurred, which all the other publications did, as it wasn't in the public interest. 
• Should the magazine have obscured the child's features? Yes, because she is still a child, and I think the photograph would have been as effective if her face was blurred, as the audience would have still been able to recognise that it was a child doing this which was the most shocking part. 
• Did the father's behaviour suggest that that he did not want to draw attention of the press to his child? The behaviour of the father suggested that he wasn't preventing drawing attention to his daughter, and should have been responsible and more concerned before making rude gestures. 

#3 - A Man V The Sunday Times 

• Clause 6 - Pupils should not be approached without the permission of the school authorites.  As this incident was related to the school, the journalist shouldn't have made any contact with the boy. 
• Clause 6 - Minors should not be paid for material involving children's welfare. Asking for a photograph of the suspect went against this code, as it involved the suspects welfare. 
• Clause 4 - Journalists must not persist in questioning, telephoning, pursuing individuals once asked to desist.  We don't know if the boy rejected the journalist from giving any information. 
• Does this mean there is no complaint to answer? Has the code been breached? I think that yes, the code has definitely been breached based on the fact that the journalist was trying to obtain information about the suspect through a pupil attending at the school. 

#4 - A Woman V The Independent 

• Clause 3 - Everyone is entitled to respect for her private and family life, home, health... The fact that she only told three people whom she assumed that she could trust, showed that she didn't want the public to know.
• Clause 1 - The press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information. Even though they might have been told by one of those three people who knew, they shouldn't have published anything until it was confirmed by the actress herself. 

#5 - A Woman V The Sun

• Clause 3 - Everyone is entitled to respect for her private life... This image was taken in a public area, and the fact that there were other people present meant that the lady wasn't concerned about people not knowing. 
• Clause 5 - When reporting suicide, care should be taken to avoid excessive detail about the method used. It was pretty clear from the images about how this lady killed herself just from the photographs. However, they should have considered reactions from people who personally knew the lady, as they would have been affected to see someone that they knew in the newspaper, killing themselves. But the newspaper treated this tragic event appropriately, and they didn't dwell on unpleasant details. 

#6 - A Woman V Eastbourne Gazette

• Clause 3 - Editors will be expected to justify intrusions into any individuals private life without consent. This journalist entered the hospital without identifying himself. He had no permission as well, as the family had firmly denied it previously. 
• Clause 4 - Journalists must not engage in intimidation harassment or persistent pursuit. The fact that the journalist kept wanting to speak to the family, leaving messages, and again telephoning suggested that he was being persistent breaching this code. 
• Clause 8 - Journalists must identify themselves and obtain permission from a responsible executive before entering non-public areas of hospitals. He entered the hospital without identifying himself and questioned the man despite his fatal condition.

#7 - A Police Officer V The Sunday Telegraph

• Clause 3 - Editors will be expected to justify intrusions into any individuals private life without consent. The fact that they entered the house without clearly identifying themselves suggested that they intruded. However, based on the fact that the Nazi memorabilia belonged to the policewoman's husband, meant that it was in the publics interest based on the role that the policewoman had within the community, especially because she was responsible for investigating racially-motivated crimes. 

#8 - Paul McCartney V Hello!

• Clause 3 - Everyone is entitled to respect for his private and family life. This was an intrusion into his private life, as they were pictured near a cathedral in a distressed time as he paid respect to his late wife. 
• It wasn't in the public's interest to know, as this was a very private matter even though he is a celebrity and should be expected to have been taken photographs of. 
• Clause 5 - Intrusion into grief. They were paying respect to their late wife/mother. 
• The newspaper should have been more considerate and been more respectful to him as he was going through a hard time. 

BBFC Seminar

In the afternoon, we returned to school to attend a seminar given by a BBFC spokesperson. She was one of the people who classified films. She said that on average, she'd watch 5 hours and 41 minutes of footage every day, and that the genres and type of films she came across were completely random. She later went through the guidelines that she had to always follow, which we had already learnt. She showed us various clips from films, and one was 'The Expendables' where one of the guys is seen to cut off someone else's arm. This was a clear example of the producers dwelling on the violence, and the BBFC had asked them to re-edit the the clip. The edited clip worked just as fine, and was more appropriate for the viewing audience, as it was given a classification rating of 15.

PCC Seminar

After attending the seminar, based in Central London, the talk reinforced facts that I had previously learnt. The seminar was really interesting as I had finally understood the process of making complaints, and that the PCC would also encourage affected individuals to complain to newspapers/magazines which published negative articles about them, and made them realise that they could take action against them. I think that this is because, currently, a majority of the public are unaware about who the PCC are and what they do.
Also, when the PCC comes across a complain, there's a wide range of factors which they must consider. For them to decide whether the complaint should be upheld or not, is sometimes difficult. The decisions that they make are very subjective, which has made them build up a bad reputation unfortunately.

The Press Complaints Commission

What does the PCC do? 

• Independent.
• deals with complains about editorial content in newspapers & magazines in the UK (including websites). 
• 16 clause Code of Practice. 
• Deals with complaints about content which someone believes has breached the code. 
• The editor usually resolves the complaint e.g. published correction, apology or clarification. 
• If problem cannot be solved, the PCC will assess the evidence from both sides and issue an adjudication (formal judgement) which has to be published in the newspapers/magazines pages. 

How does the system work?

• Not legal. Not run by the government. 
• Run on a voluntary agreement by the newspaper/magazine industry.
• Code of Practice drawn by the committee of editors.
• Commission itself consists of public 'lay' members.
• 10 out of the 17 have no link to the newspaper/magazine industry. 

What does the Code of Practice cover? 

• Covers four main areas: accuracy, privacy, news-gathering, protecting the vulnerable.
• Editor is expected to take full responsibility of the content that they produce. (e.g. articles, photographs etc...)
• Content should comply with the Code of Practice.
• Code of Practice doesn't cover issues of taste and decency purely because of the democratic society that we're in, newspapers feel they have the freedom to publish in a style which they choose as long as it complies with the Code of Practice. 
• Most people choose what style of newspaper they buy, hence can expect content which agrees to their specific taste, unlike billboards, which everyone can see, so rules on taste must be appropriate. 

How is the PCC funded? 

• Funded by the Press Standards Board of Finance (PressBof).
• Collect money from newspapers and magazines. 
• Each newspaper and magazine contribute based on the number of people who buy their papers.
• Not funded by the government. 

What is the history of the PCC?

• Set up in 1991 replacing the Press Council which started in 1953.
• Their aim was to maintain high standards of journalism whilst protecting press freedom. 
• In 1980's, MP's started to lose their faith in the Press Council based on the fact that some publications failed to observe the simple ethics of journalism. 
• Government appointed a Departmental Committee to consider the matter.
• Later, proposed a new PCC which would have to prove "that non-statutory regulation can be made to work effectively".

Who complains to the PCC and what do they complain about?

• Accepts complaints from anyone who believes that an article is in breach of the Code of Practice. 
• The Code provides special protection to particular vulnerable groups. 

Why is the PCC important? 

• In a democratic society, the press should not be subject to strict controls by law or by government. The PCC being an independent, voluntary organisation protects against this possibility simply by its existence. 

16 Clauses

1. Accuracy
2. Opportunity to reply
3. Privacy*
4. Harassment*
5. Intrusion into grief or shock
6. Children*
7. Children in sex cases*
8. Hospitals*
9. Reporting of crime*
10. Clandestine devices and subterfuge*
11. Victims of sexual assault
12. Discrimination
13. Financial journalism 
14. Confidential sources
15. Witness payments in criminal trials
16. Payment to criminals*

Public interest

May be exceptions to clauses marked with *. 

Differences between the ratings.

U & PG


Can be more frightening but still cannot be prolonged and fantasy is treated less strictly.

The themes at PG can be a little more mature, but the nature of how they are presented is still very mild.

Stronger violence, but still will not focus on detail. Must be justified by it's context.Sexual content can be allowed more at PG however its treatment is still discreet and infrequent.
At PG mild drug use/reference is more acceptable but still must carry an anti-drug message overall.
Discriminatory language can be used at PG however must have an educational or historical context.
No drug references in both these ratings.

PG & 12A


Stronger violence accepted without strong detail. 
Nudity is allowed but must still be brief and discreet.

Moderate physical and psychological threat may be permitted at 12A but cannot be sustained.
Imitable behaviour accepted. Glamorisation of weapons still not permitted. 
Moderate language permitted. 

Discriminatory language/behaviour is stronger but must not be encouraged.
Drug mis-use can be shown at 12A [it cannot at PG]  but must be infrequent and not glamorised.

12A/12 & 15

Horror can be stronger and more threatening. 
Glamorisation of easily accessible weapons is not acceptable.
Nudity is more acceptable. Can be shown in a sexual context but not with strong detail.
Strong verbal references to sexual behaviour.

Language is more frequent and stronger however, context is important.

Drug references are shown, but anti-drug message still enforced. 

15 & 18 

Risk of harm to society is not acceptable.
Sexualised violence is allowed at 18.
Can include sexual relationships. 
Clear images of real sex is not permitted at 18.

18 - R18

Cannot breach any criminal laws.
Sexually abusive behaviour is not acceptable. 
Real sex is allowed at R18.