978-1305580985 Chapter 14

Chapter 14 – Law and Regulation: Reforming

the Rules

Chapter Outline

• U.S. Constitution Sets Free Press Precedent

• Government Tries to Restrict Free Expression

The Alien and Sedition Laws of 1798

The Espionage Act of 1918

The Smith Act of 1940

HUAC and the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations

• Prior Restraint Rarely Used

Near v. Minnesota

The Pentagon Papers

The Progressive Case

Government Manages War Coverage

Restricting Press Access in Grenada

News Blackouts and Press Pools During the Gulf War

War in Afghanistan

“Embedded” Reporters During Iraq War

Photographs of War Fatalities

• WikiLeaks Challenges Government Secrecy

• USA PATRIOT Act Meets Public Resistance

• What Is the Standard for Obscenity?

Local Efforts

U.S. Supreme Court Writes Obscenity Criteria

School Boards as Censors

The Hazelwood Case

• Libel Law Outlines the Media’s Public Responsibility

Sullivan Case Establishes a Libel Landmark

Redefining the Sullivan Decision

Charges and Defenses for Libel

Legal Outcomes Reflect Mixed Results

Internet Comments Bring SLAPP Suits

• Invasion of Privacy Defined Four Ways

Physical or Mental Solitude

Embarrassing Personal Facts

False Light

Right of Publicity

Bartnicki v. Vopper

accessible website, in whole or in part. 128

• Debate Continues over Fair Trial, Courtroom Access and Shield

Laws

Fair Trial

Courtroom Access

Shield Laws

• FCC Regulates Broadcast and Cable

• Telecommunications Act of 1996 Changes the Marketplace

Goal: To Sell Consumers “The Bundle”

Targeting the Power User

• Deregulation Unleashes the Media

Created a Goal of Universal Service

Deregulated Free Media

Relaxed Ownership and Licensing Rules

Encouraged Local Phone Competition

Ends Cable Rate Regulation TV Industry Agrees to Ratings and the

V-Chip

• Congress Attempts to Control Access to Indecent Content

Supreme Court Upholds Internet Filters for Public Libraries

Government Monitors Broadcast Indecency

• Intellectual Property Rights Affirmed

Digital Millennium Copyright Act

New York Times Co. v. Tasini

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. v. Grokster Ltd. and Arista Records

LLC v. Lime Group LLC

• FCC Adopts Open Internet Rules

• Courts and Regulators Govern Advertising and PR

Central Hudson Case

Texas Gulf Sulphur Case

Federal Government Regulates Advertisers

• Law Must Balance Rights and Responsibilities

Suggested Activities, Discussions, and Exercises

1. Ask your students to write a short position paper on “Freedom of the Press

versus the Right to Privacy.” Discuss the students’ positions in class.

2. Ask your students to keep a log of the television shows they watch for one

week, noting the name of the show, the hour it’s on, and the TV rating

code. Do they see a pattern among the ratings of their favorite shows?

What does this indicate about their viewing habits? Use this to launch a

class or small group discussion or as a writing exercise.

3. Have students do an inventory of cross-media offerings in their community

from telephone, cable, satellite and power companies. Ask students to

discuss where they get their television, telephone, and Internet services

and whether they have been approached recently with “bundle” offers. Ask

them to discuss in class whether they find the competition for customers

helpful in acquiring services, or merely confusing.

4. Ask students to investigate whether their state or adjoining states have or

have considered enacting shield laws to protect reporters from court

orders to reveal news sources. Assign students to two groups to function

as debate teams, and ask them to debate the value of shield laws versus

the interests of the government and the courts in learning the reporter’s

information sources.

5. Ask students to each find a different court case—current or historical—

involving communication rights. Have each summarize the issue and the

court findings and present to each other in class or in an online discussion

forum.

Activity Pages

Use the following activity pages as class handouts for exercises and to

accompany some of the classroom Ideas described above.

Television Ratings Exercise

Keep a log of the television shows you watch for one week, noting the name of the

show, the hour it’s on, and the TV rating code. Find the code from a reliable

source. (Make as many copies of this page as you need to accurately record your

viewing.) Do you see a pattern among the ratings of your favorite shows? What

does this indicate about your viewing habits? As directed by your instructor, use

this information for a class discussion or to write about your findings.

Name of show:

When it’s on:

Rating of show:

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Name of show:

When it’s on:

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Name of show:

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Name of show:

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Name of show:

When it’s on:

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Name of show:

When it’s on:

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Name of show:

When it’s on:

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Name of show:

When it’s on:

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Name of show:

When it’s on:

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Name of show:

When it’s on:

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Name of show:

When it’s on:

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Name of show:

When it’s on:

Rating of show:

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Researching Recent Media Law Decisions

Using Questia, online databases, or the college library, research the topic of

Media Law. Locate and actual recent media law case. Read the case and then

answer the following questions. Bring the information to class for a discussion or

write a short paper, as directed by your instructor.

1. What is the actual name of the case? (John Doe v. Jane Doe)

2. What are the issues of the case?

3. Does the case cite any precedent in the law? If so, what is the precedent?

4. What are the major arguments on both sides?

5. Without looking at the outcome, which side do you believe is correct, based on the

historical precedent established in these issues of media law? (For example, privacy or

freedom of expression?

6. What was the outcome of the case? Did the outcome agree with your previous

conclusion? Discuss.

Media Lawyer Guest Speaker

Invite a local lawyer who specializes in media law to speak to your class. Make up

a list of questions (these are only suggestions), and be sure to write down the

answers. Be prepared to discuss the answers or to write a brief paper about your

findings.

•What is the proper spelling of your

name?

• What is your title and the name of your

firm?

• How long have you been practicing

law? How long have you been working

in media law?

• (To students: choose a famous media

case that you’ve studied in class—the

Carol Burnett suit, the New York Times

Co. v. Tasini or another—and ask the

lawyer to offer his/her opinion of the

case’s outcome.)

• How can the country accommodate

both the First Amendment concept of a

free press and the right of the nation’s

citizens to keep their reputations from

being unnecessarily damaged?

• Can you tell us about some of the

media cases you’ve worked on? What

were their outcomes?

• What kinds of monetary awards have

been given in your cases?

• Do you think the courts tend to side

more often with the media or with

plaintiffs in media cases today?

Explain.

• What should reporters do if asked to

identify their sources or give up their

notes and recordings of interviews? Can

you discuss some of the cases of

reporters who have gone to jail over this

issue?

• The major costs for many libel cases

are the lawyers’ fees, not the judgments.

Why do lawyers’ fees get so high? What

does a lawyer have to do to defend or

prosecute a libel case?

• What, if any, changes would you like to

see made to American media laws and

regulations?

• Have you been involved in any privacy

cases? Can you give any local

examples of privacy cases and their

outcomes?

• What can reporters do to ensure that

their stories are not libelous?

• Have you been involved in any First

Amendment or freedom of speech

cases? Can you describe them, and tell

us about their outcomes?

Chapter 14 Quiz

Multiple Choice

1. The belief that the U.S. press should be free from government control

originated with the:

a. First Amendment.

b. Sixth Amendment.

c. Magna Carta.

d. Declaration of Independence.

2. Joseph McCarthy did all but which of the following?

a. presided over the Army-McCarthy hearings

b. aggressively hunted communists in the United States

c. created the voluntary Code of Wartime Practices for American Broadcasters

d. was eventually censured by his colleagues in the Senate

3. The broadcast media:

a. are regulated by the Federal Trade Commission.

b. are regulated by state communications boards.

c. are regulated by the Federal Communications Commission.

d. have complete freedom over content they place on their websites.

4. After the Roth and Miller cases, determining obscenity is the

responsibility of:

a. the U.S. Supreme Court.

b. local school boards.

c. state censorship boards.

d. local courts.

5. To prove libel, someone must show that:

a. the statement injured the person’s reputation or income or caused mental

anguish.

b. the statement was communicated to a third party.

c. people who read or saw the statement would be able to identify the person,

even if that person was not actually named.

d. All of these are correct.

6. In the New York Times v. Sullivan decision, the Supreme Court held that:

a. reporters are protected from naming sources in a court of law.

b. the plaintiff in a loss of privacy lawsuit cannot be a celebrity.

c. a public official must prove that the story was published with a reckless

disregard for the truth.

d. obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment.

7. The media can invade privacy by:

a. disclosing embarrassing personal facts.

b. placing someone in a false light.

c. using someone’s name or likeness for commercial benefit.

d. All of these are correct.

8. The law designed to prevent illegal copying of material on the Internet is:

a. the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

b. the Communications Decency Act.

c. the Smith Act of 1940.

d. the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

9. Changes in 2003 in FCC regulations concerning ownership of broadcast

stations:

a. were intended to restrict competition.

b. allowed a company to own stations that reach more than half of the U.S.

population.

c. allowed companies to expand the number of radio and TV stations they could

own.

d. have since been overturned and reversed by the FCC.

10. Which legislation led to a conflict between the FBI and libraries over

government access to library records?

a. Communications Decency Act

b. The PATRIOT Act

c. The Privacy Act

d. The Federal Shield Law

11. Which Supreme Court case forms the basis for commercial speech

protection today?

a. Cantrell v. Forest City Publishing Co.

b. Bartnicki v. Vopper

c. Time, Inc. v. Hill

d. Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission

12. According to the Impact/Society box, “Excerpts from the 1943 Code of

Wartime Practices for American Broadcasters,” which of the following was

not censored by the Office of War Information?

a. weather forecasts

b. quiz programs

c. reports of troop movements

d. situation comedies

13. According to the Impact / Audience box, “Cameras in the Courtroom: A State-

by-State Guide,” which statement is true of cameras in the courtroom today?

a. The U.S. Supreme Court allows video coverage of court proceedings.

b. Only 3 states allow some camera access to courtroom proceedings.

c. California and New York allow video coverage of most courtroom proceedings.

d. Most states allow at least some camera access to courtroom proceedings.

14. The Communications Decency Act:

a. regulated print media for the first time.

b. allowed sex-oriented programming on cable TV.

c. attempted to define and control user access to specific programs and content.

d. applied only to children’s materials.

15. Which of the following is not true of efforts to censor books,

magazines, and films?

a. Most reported book challenges take place in schools and public libraries.

b. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has never been targeted by censors.

c. A school district in Little Rock, Ark., removed Harry Potter books from its

library because the school board claimed the tales of wizards and spells could

harm schoolchildren.

d. The State of Alabama based censorship efforts on a federal judge’s ruling that

certain books promoted “secular humanism.”

True/False

1. Beginning in 2003, the U.S. government adopted a system for war reporting

called “embedding.”

2. The press was required to submit news stories for government review during

World War II.

3. The Pentagon Papers were prevented from ever being printed in The

Washington Post and The New York Times by the U.S. Supreme Court.

4. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that obscenity is protected by the First

Amendment.

5. Right of privacy laws provide little protection for public officials.

ANS: T

Essay Questions

1. How is the V-chip designed to protect children? Explain with specific

details. Do you think it works? Why? Why not?

2. Why are Roth v. United States and Miller v. California important in the

history of censorship in America?

3. Discuss briefly the ongoing controversy concerning confidentiality of

reporter’s sources and shield laws. Mention at least one recent case of

conflict between a reporter and the courts over protection of a source’s

identity.

4. Discuss the concept of “The Bundle” as the basis of a telecommunications

battlefield, and identify the provision of law that underlies the battle over

“The Bundle.”

5. How is the right of ownership of intellectual property rights legally

protected in the digital age? Discuss the role the Digital Millennium

Copyright Act played in establishing rules to protect intellectual property

rights.