ISBA Renews Calls For Self-Regulation Of Broadcast Media
ISBA has renewed calls for the Government to amend the draft Communications Bill to allow the self-regulation of broadcast advertising.
The body that speaks on behalf of British advertisers is lobbying Government decision makers to convince them that advertisers, agencies and broadcasters are committed to developing a workable system of self-regulation for broadcast media.
According to ISBA, any such self-regulatory system would have to include three key aspects. Firstly, the industry would want to own the codes just as its does through the Committee of Advertising Practice for non-broadcast advertising. Secondly, Ofcom would need to hold backstop regulatory powers just as the Office Of Fair Trading does for the ASA and thirdly, any new body would need to be independent and free to adjudicate on advertising without interference from either advertisers or the Government.
ISBA’s director general, Malcolm Earnshaw, said: “ISBA has long argued that that in the era of media convergence, self-regulation will provide the most effective means to ensure public confidence in advertising across all media. We were disappointed that the draft Communications Bill, published in May, played down the prospects for the rapid move towards self-regulation of broadcast advertising that ISBA and the Advertising Association had been pressing for.”
He added: “However, last month’s parliamentary scrutiny committee report, which broadly endorsed the merits of a move in this direction, has opened a further window of opportunity for us. As advertisers, we need to take this opportunity. ISBA is meeting with Government to discuss how effective self-regulation of broadcast advertising could be achieved to meet both the Government’s and the industry’s objectives.”
ISBA recently expressed concern that Carlton and Granada’s decision to combine parts of their marketing operations could represent an attempt to “merge by stealth”. The body, which has long been concerned about the dominance that single ownership of ITV would have on the UK airtime market said the pooling of operations could lead to information sharing between Carlton and Granada on their advertiser customers (see ISBA Voices Concern Over Stealth ITV Merger).
ISBA: 020 7499 7502 www.isba.org.uk
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