This may look a lot like Franziska's.... Media Law & Ethics for Monday

Class begin with a lively discussion of the Women's Resource Center (Carmen I saw your response in the Eagle, very well done) and an update on what's ahead in the World of Writing For Mass Comm 200.

1. Grammar Quiz on Thursday - all grammar in the textbook will be fair game, or as Stevia put it "all grammar ever".

2. No class on Monday! - But, the time should be used to work on our "Something New" assignment which is due after break. The piece will cover something that is new this semester on campus (professor, event, class, etc...). You can write up the assignment in any style you want (PSA, feature, press release, broadcast, etc...).

After the above updates, the lesson on Media Law and Ethics began!

Libel -publishing something, on purpose, that is both false and can hurt someone's reputation.

• Living people can sue, dead people can't

• Usually the publication gets sued, not the individual reporter (but in some cases he/she can)

• To be libelous, a statement must be:

-both false, and published (but, simply e-mailing it to a friend counts!
-defamatory - ruins a person's reputation
- you can identify that it is specifically plaintiff who is being talked about
- the defendant is guilty of negligence (being sloppy, not checking over facts)
or malice- intentionally trying to hurt someone's reputation with false information

How do Avoid Libel - ALWAYS CHECK YOUR FACTS! Wait for additiontional information before running a story if you are not sure of something. Also, check with a person before you write something questionable about him or her.

See "Print it or Pull it" examples

Copyright Law - images, music, text all have copyrights establishing who owns the creative work

• The safest way to avoid copyright infringement is to always check with the author/publisher before reprinting something
  

• Remember to not use trademarks when writing (Band -Aids, Xerox etc...) , it's not illegal, but it is sloppy.
  

Privacy -

• Don't intrude - no hidden camera, or trespassing to gain information -you ARE NOT James Bond
  

• Don't portray someone in a false light - no using old pictures for new stories (that have nothing to do with the original context of the picture)
  

• Don't disclose private facts - it really can't get any better than that hemorrhoid example in text.
  

• Don't appropriate - for instance, don't use a picture of me in an ad for a Miley Cyrus concert. I'm not one of her biggest fans, and would be upset that you did not check with me first.
  

Ethics - what you can publish, and what is ethically sound to publish, are two different things.

• Don't assume that people do not want to talk to reporters when there is a tragedy. For
• reporters it is always worth it to seek out new information.
• Show compassion for victims of tragedy
• Don't stereotype or make general assumptions
• Be careful when identifying underage suspects or victims of sexual crimes
• Don't charge someone with a crime before the police have
• Avoid conflicts of interest
• Bring to light ethical violations you may know about

For more information on all of this- see the class hand out sheets!