What do Livingstone and Lunt say about self-regulation in the media?

• A. It is a flawless system that requires no oversight.
• B. It should replace all formal regulation.
• C. It should be open to the industry but has problems.
• D. It is unnecessary in modern media.

Answer: (A)

Self-regulation in media is seen by Livingstone and Lunt as a negotiated, industry-led approach that can work well in principle but isn’t flawless in practice. They argue that codes and watchdogs created by the industry can draw on insider knowledge and allow for quicker, more flexible responses than formal rules. But they also stress real problems: codes can be weak or unevenly applied, industry biases can shape standards, and there can be insufficient accountability or enforcement. Because of these issues, they advocate a form of co-regulation—where industry self-regulation operates within a framework of formal oversight to protect the public interest. That makes the best-fitting view one that acknowledges that self-regulation should be industry-accessible but comes with problems that require monitoring and a regulatory framework.