Pick a topic listed below and answer the guiding questions that accompany them as best you can in no less than 1500 but no more than about 2000 words (that will translate to about 4-5 pages, double-spaced, at 12-point font; if you find yourself going beyond that approximate limit, check in with me).
You will need to cite at least eight sources total, including four academic sources (scholarly books/papers/sites/podcasts, etc.), and at least four decided court cases, following APA format. Going below the word minimum and/or not citing a sufficient and/or correct kind of source will result in grade deductions. I am interested in your thoughtful use of scholarly sources, and in particular the law-review articles.
Your textbook can count as one of your academic sources.
You should have a beginning, middle and end, and make a persuasive case: your arguments should draw on scholarly material to support your claims. If there is a topic that is not listed below that you want to address, please reach out to me to get my approval before proceeding. The goal of the paper is to practice thinking through problems in media law, using the kind of reasoning/arguments you will need in your exams, and, eventually, in your work in the mass-media world. At a more basic level, you will practice thinking about how the First Amendment remains relevant to our society’s challenges and our lives as members of that society. I can provide example “A” papers for this assignment.
List of topics/prompts: (see above if you have questions)
Confidentiality: 1) What protections, if any, do journalists have against giving up their anonymous sources if ordered to do so by a judge via a subpoena? 2) a. What role do “shield laws” have to do with such court orders? b. And with the protection of work products/documentary materials? 3) How has the internet complicated confidentiality?
Free-press/fair-trial issues 1: 1) What famous (or infamous) cases have influenced thinking regarding fair-press/fair trial issues in the United States, and why? 2) How has broadcast technology, including cameras in the courtroom, impacted fair-press/free-trial concerns? 3) How has the rise of cable and now streaming TV and social media impacted traditional judicial remedies for pre-trial (and during-trial) publicity?
i have attached an outline that i want to focus on. be sure to answer each question in the instructions and also use 8 sources, 4 being scholary.
Free-press/fair-trial issues 2: Research/examine an ongoing or a recently concluded (within the past year) criminal or civil trial and highlight 1) the pre-trial publicity of the case, 2) any information you can find about jury selection, 3) continuing or recently deployed judicial remedies used in the trial, and analyze their effectiveness—how do all of the above illustrate tensions between the First and the Sixth Amendment?
Broadcasting: 1) How does the history of broadcasting regulation in the U.S. reflect American approaches to the government’s role in media regulation more generally?[1] 2) What was the Fairness Doctrine, and what happened to it? 3) How does online TV streaming technology impact broadcast regulation?
Obscenity: 1) How has the regulation of “obscene” speech changed over time? 2) What is the current status of obscenity law? 3) How has the internet disrupted ideas/definitions of obscenity?
Copyright: 1) What was the origin of, and continuing impact, of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act? 2) What are the current limits of fair use? 3) How might copyright law continue to change over the next 20-30 years?
Advertising: 1) How has the regulation of media advertising changed since the nineteenth century? 2) What are three current issues or problems with the regulation of advertising?
3) What might be a future issue or problem with the regulation of advertising?
Design-your-own-topic: as long as it relates to a new-media-technology, and media law, in some way (or on a current event, or case, with media-law repercussions, such as a case currently before the Supreme Court or how coronavirus is impacting access to meetings/trials, etc.), I am very open to a topic of your choosing. Send me a list of 2-3 questions, too, and I will send further feedback as needed. Note: If you pick this option, you need a final approval from me before proceeding.