There are many diferent legal and reulatory constraints that broadcasters have to abide by. Here are some I have stated below.

handling of stories involving minors

When news storys are about minors broadcasters have to be very careful and have to follow OFCOMS rules. OFCOM have a set of rules for people under 16 and people under 18 which are very similar. For people under 16 they dont lose their rights to privacy due to fame or if events take place in their school. In order to for the programme to feaure information about individuals under 16 or a vulnerable person they must follow these constraints. They have too have a consent of a parent or gardian, and have someone over 18 present. They also dont give out the last name of an individual under 16 if they dont have the parents or gardians consent. If they fail to have anyone present then the individual cannot be questioned. The same rule applies to vunerable people who consist of traumatised, or mentally ill people.  
OFCOM also have a rule for under 18 that broadcasting companys must follow which is that they must ensure that people under 18 are protected. Radio compacts must ensure that they broadcast news about under 18s at suitable times such as when children arent listening. For an example if a child under 18 has been attacked and a radio show wants to broadcast it they would choose dinner time or an evening when they know children wont be listening. They wouldn't broadcast information like this on a school run or breakfast time.

The BBC editorial guidelines alos have a similar principle when it comes to children under 16. They have to ensure that the physical and emotional welfare of the child is protected during broadcasting. Their safety also must be taken into priority and they also must have the consent of a parent or guardian. The BBC also make sure that they dont cause the children any distress or anxiety. The BBC also state that support must be given when nessacery.  

An example of protecting a child is the Rochdale paedophile grooming gang where a young girl came forward and sent all the gang down. In the story however the childs name is never mentioned. This is the way they protect the childs identity and keep her safe from the presses eye. Here is a link to a source a gathere dmy information from
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/9253016/Rochdale-grooming-trial-Asian-grooming-gangs-the-uncomfortable-issue.html


Contempt of court


Contempt of court us a court order which can declare if a person or organisation has disobeyed or been disrespectful towards the courts authority. A peson who has breached the courts rules they are then known as a person 'held in contempt'. A judge can give a person a fine and evem give them a jail sentence. However a judge must make sure that the case is very fair towards both parties.
A god example of a contempt of court case is when alot of the mainstream newspaperws were fined. An example news paper is the Daily Mail when they covered the Levi Bellfield case. They wrote about how he abudcuted and killed Milly Dowler, through this Daily Mail were find £10,000-£25,000 pounds. Contempt of court has happened on one or more occasion with the news papers. In 2002 the Sunday Mirror had to pay £75,000 for publishing an article that end with a collapse of a certain trail. This was and still is one of the biggest contempt of court fines in the history of newspaper.

libel and defamation


Libel is the writing or recording something false and damaging about someone and is a form of defamation. However Defamation is saying or writing something about someone that is not true and therefore damages their reputation. These are oftern broken which is a big concern in the media industry.
A example of an libel and defamation story is the Lord Mcalpine case when he won his case against Sally Bercow. Sally Bercow made alleged tweets about lord Mcalpine which then lead to him accusing her as defamation. Here is a link to the full story on the subject http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/apr/16/lord-mcalpine-libel-sally-bercow


coverage of elections

When the BBC know theres an election going on they have to remain fair due to the fact the subject is a very serious matter and some people take it more serious then others. Programme makes and other media content producers should take all complaints seriously  and producers sould be aware that anything thye say may be constructed as BBC policy. If they're are complaints or allegations of bias ten this must be dealt with very seriously and staright away.


Official Secrets Act


The official secrets act is a act that is used to protect government secrets from the public. It is illegal for someone to collect record or publish information which could also help the enemy in the situation. If someones found out for publishing secret information then they could face up to 14 years in jail.

Security and intelligence.

Defence.

International relations.

Assisting criminals.

Information resulting from unauthorised disclosures or entrusted in confidence.

Information entrusted in confidence to other states or international organisations.

These are examples that will class as an affesive if a person chooses to publish imformation about them.
An example of a offical secrets case is when the Guardian published information about the phone hacking scandel. Corrupted police handed files over to the gurdian reveliing who told them that the murdered Milley Dowler's phone had been hacked. Here is the full story http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2038406/Met-uses-Official-Secrets-Act-force-Guardian-reveal-source-hacking-stories.html