MDS 4100 Communication Law Case Study: Privacy CASE STUDY: PRIVACY You are a reporter for WKRN-TV, covering local police activity as part of your beat. Your editor tells you to get over to McGavock High School as quickly as possible. An anonymous caller, saying she lives across the street from the public school, told a news editor she heard four or five gunshots coming from the school building as she was outside walking her dog. Within seconds, she says, students were running outside and screaming. A listen to the police band receiver in the newsroom indicates something is up at the school. You take a videographer and arrive on the scene about 1:30 p.m. Five or six Metro police cars are parked near the school, and an ambulance arrives seconds later as you get out of your car. The entrance to the school building is blocked off and police are guarding the area, admitting no one except authorities into the building. After questioning police, you confirm the fact there has been a shooting, but that’s as far as you get. You begin asking bystanders for more information. A number of McGavock students have remained at the scene. Several tell you a student was shot in a first-floor restroom. A girl who claims to be a friend of the victim says his name is James DeVore, a freshman. She said she thinks he is 14 years old. Another student says DeVore recently turned 15. No one present knows who is responsible for the shooting. Minutes later police escort a young man, handcuffed, from the school building. They place him in a squad car and drive away. You ask people in the crowd if anyone can identify the alleged suspect. At least four tell you he is Brian Samuels, a sophomore. You ask police at the scene to confirm this information, but no one will reply. Your videographer tells you she got footage of the boy being placed in the squad car. While talking to her, you hear screams in the background. You run around the side of the building to the loading dock area. Police have taped off the immediate area but you can see what’s going on. EMTs are wheeling the covered body of the victim to an ambulance waiting near the dock. Some students are crying. The videographer gets shots of the body being placed into the ambulance and close-ups of crying students. You approach several police officers standing near a squad car, hoping to get more facts. Inside the squad car an officer is radioing into police headquarters. You hear him saying “the victim is James DeVore, age 15.” The officer radios that the suspect, Samuels, has admitted to the shooting. You also hear the following: “Samuels said it was it was payback, that DeVore had sexually assaulted Samuels’ 6-year-old sister.” Because you are under deadline, you decide not to interview the officers personally and head back to the station. When you get back to the station, a colleague tells you he covered a story two years ago on another in.

1. MDS 4100 Communication Law
Case Study: Privacy
CASE STUDY: PRIVACY
You are a reporter for WKRN-TV, covering local police activity
as part of your beat. Your editor
tells you to get over to McGavock High School as quickly as
possible. An anonymous caller,
saying she lives across the street from the public school, told a
news editor she heard four or
five gunshots coming from the school building as she was
outside walking her dog. Within
seconds, she says, students were running outside and screaming.
A listen to the police band
receiver in the newsroom indicates something is up at the
school.
You take a videographer and arrive on the scene about 1:30 p.m.
Five or six Metro police cars
are parked near the school, and an ambulance arrives seconds
later as you get out of your car.

2. The entrance to the school building is blocked off and police are
guarding the area, admitting no
one except authorities into the building.
After questioning police, you confirm the fact there has been a
shooting, but that’s as far as you
get. You begin asking bystanders for more information. A
number of McGavock students have
remained at the scene. Several tell you a student was shot in a
first-floor restroom. A girl who
claims to be a friend of the victim says his name is James
DeVore, a freshman. She said she
thinks he is 14 years old. Another student says DeVore recently
turned 15.
No one present knows who is responsible for the shooting.
Minutes later police escort a young
man, handcuffed, from the school building. They place him in a
squad car and drive away. You
ask people in the crowd if anyone can identify the alleged
suspect. At least four tell you he is
Brian Samuels, a sophomore. You ask police at the scene to
confirm this information, but no one
will reply.

3. Your videographer tells you she got footage of the boy being
placed in the squad car. While
talking to her, you hear screams in the background. You run
around the side of the building to
the loading dock area. Police have taped off the immediate area
but you can see what’s going
on. EMTs are wheeling the covered body of the victim to an
ambulance waiting near the dock.
Some students are crying. The videographer gets shots of the
body being placed into the
ambulance and close-ups of crying students.
You approach several police officers standing near a squad car,
hoping to get more facts. Inside
the squad car an officer is radioing into police headquarters.
You hear him saying “the victim is
James DeVore, age 15.” The officer radios that the suspect,
Samuels, has admitted to the
shooting. You also hear the following: “Samuels said it was it
was payback, that DeVore had
sexually assaulted Samuels’ 6-year-old sister.” Because you are
under deadline, you decide not
to interview the officers personally and head back to the station.

4. When you get back to the station, a colleague tells you he
covered a story two years ago on
another incident at McGavock, and it involved a student named
Jeffrey Samuels. You pull out
the footage from that broadcast, and the story relates to a drug
arrest at the school in which
Jeffrey Samuels, then age 18, was charged with felony sale of
narcotics. He is now serving the
second year of a 10-year sentence in a state prison. You call
McGavock and get a guidance
counselor still at the school who confirms that Jeffrey and Brian
are brothers.
Your editor tells you he needs the story for the 5 p.m. newscast.
You compile your notes and
work with an editor to decide which footage to use to
accompany the story. You decide to show
the suspect being placed in the squad car, the victim’s covered
body being placed in the
ambulance, and the tearful reactions of students.

5. You write the following to accompany the story:
“A 15-year-old McGavock High School sophomore, a member
of a family with a history
of run-ins with the law, admitted to fatally shooting a fellow
student this afternoon.
Metro police arrested Brian Samuels in connection with the
shooting death of
McGavock freshman James DeVore. Informed sources say the
shooting took place in a
school restroom.
Police report Samuels shot the victim in retaliation for a sexual
assault allegedly made
by DeVore on the suspect’s younger sister.
Two years ago, the brother of the suspect, Jeffrey Samuels, was
convicted of selling
narcotics while he was a student at McGavock. He is now
serving a 10-year sentence in a
state penitentiary.”

6. ASSIGNMENT:
The Samuels family sues for invasion of privacy in the areas of
Intrusion, Private Facts and False
Light.
• What potential legal problems (related to privacy) are
contained in the text of the story?
• Are there problems with any part of the footage that was
aired?
• The evening the story runs, you discover from police that
Brian Samuels is actually 17
years old and a junior at the high school. What are the
consequences, if any, of this
reporting error?
• How does the suit stand up against the various elements
required for each alleged
privacy invasion?
• Analyze the situation from a legal standpoint. If you believe
the media committed an
invasion of privacy, make the best case for the Samuels.
• If you believe the reporter and videographer did not legally

7. invade the family’s privacy,
provide a solid defense.
Cite appropriate cases and decisions to support your arguments.