1. Media Law & Ethics
Mass Media & Society

2. First Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press; or the right of the people
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
government for a redress of grievances.

3. Fourth Estate
The media are supposed to keep the other
branches of government in check.

4. Categorical speech
 Incitement
 “Fightingwords”
 True threats
 Defamation (some of the time)
 False commercial speech
 Obscenity

5. Print v. Broadcast
 Print
and Internet get most protection
 Broadcast gets less
 Scarcity
 Pervasiveness

6. Federal Communications Commission
 Regulates broadcast media
 Controls licensing
 Fines for indecency
 (Safe Harbor: 10 p.m. - 6a.m.)

7. Obscenity
Miller test
 whether the average person applying contemporary
community standards would find that the work taken as a
whole appeals to prurient interest;
 whether the work depicts or describes in a patently offensive
way sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable
state law; and
 whether the work taken as a whole lacks serious literary,
artistic, political or scientific value.

8. Defamation
Lying about someone or twisting the truth in such a way as to
create a false impression that damages that person’s reputation
or potentially exposes the person to ridicule is the basis for
defamation.

9. Two types of defamation
• Libel – published or broadcast
• Slander – spoken words of limited reach

10. Six elements of libel
 Publication
 Identification
 Defamation
 Falsity
 Fault
 Injury

11. Quotes won’t protect you
Repeating a source’s libelous remark in a story or broadcast is
called republication of libel.
Allegedly won’t protect you either.

12. Defenses to libel
 Truth
 Qualified privilege
 Protected opinion
 Implied consent
 Right of reply

13. Common-Law Privacy
Violations
 Publication of private facts
 Intrusion upon seclusion
 Appropriation for commercial use
 False Light

14. Privacy defenses
 Newsworthiness
 Public figure or official
 Consent
 Plain view (standing in doctrine)
 Public record or proceeding

15. Ethical consideration for
privacy
Journalists need to distinguish among:
 Right to know
 Need to know
 Want to know (not worth privacy invasion)

16. Plagiarism
 Plagiarism is the taking of someone else’s
words, research or ideas and representing
them as your own.
 It is essentially theft of credit for someone
else’s work done.

17. Copyright
Involves taking someone else’s protected
expression without permission.
It does not protect facts or ideas.

18. Copyrights
 Reproduction
 Distribution
 Derivative
 Public performance
 Public display

19. Criteria for copyright
 Original to the creator
 Fixed in a tangible medium of expression
 Modicum of creativity

20. Copyright Myths
 Things on the Internet are not protected
 If it doesn’t have a copyright symbol it is not
protected
 If you change it, it’s OK to use

21. Works for hire
 Employees do not own copyrights to their
work
 Independent contractors do

22. Length of Copyright
Life of the creator plus 70 years
95 years for corporate works

23. Fair Use
 The purpose and character of the use
 The nature of the material
 The amount and substantiality of the portion used in
relation to the whole
 The effect of the use on the market for the work.

24. Commercial speech
 False commercial speech not protected
 Regulated by the FTC (but also FCC and
FDA)

25. FTC definition of false advertising
 Representation, omission or practice must be
likely to mislead the consumer
 Act or practice must be considered from the
perspective of a consumer who is acting
reasonably
 Representation must be material

26. Responsibility for ad content
 Advertising agencies can be held responsible for
false advertising if they know or have reason to
know it is false or misleading
 Media managers are not responsible for false or
deceptive advertising, or for injuries resulting from
defective products unless the newspaper, magazine
or broadcaster helped to create the ad
 Unless potential detrimental effects of an ad are so
obvious anyone could see it

27. Right to refuse advertising
Barring a few exceptions, private publishers
and broadcasters are under no obligation to
accept advertising. Courts have also
extended that into the online realm.

28. Ethics
Mass Media and Society

29. Plagiarism
Defined as taking someone else’s words, research
or ideas and representing that material as your own.

30. Three kinds of plagiarists
• Those who know they are stealing either a part of
someone’s work, or the whole thing;
• Those who inadvertently drop a citation or become
confused about the source of a line; and
• Those who do not understand the rules of plagiarism
and do it out of ignorance.

31. David Cragin comparison
 “Most of these hotels in the city are more than half a
century old; they were built for the solitary working
man who streamed into the city to toil at the wharves
and the railway lines. They were never meant for
families.”
 “Most of these hotels are more than a half-century old;
they were built as hives for the working men who
streamed to this city to toil at the wharves and the
railway lines. They were never meant for families.”

32. Cultural hurdles in journalism
• Pressure to make a story interesting
• Pressure to get it first
• Pressure to be objective
• Pressure to get “both” sides of the story
• Pressure to take an adversarial approach

33. What is ethics?
Ethics is the act of reasoned inquiry into the principled or moral
dimension of our lives.

34. Ethical dilemmas
• Deontological ethics (absolutist / rule-based)
• Teleological ethics (situational / consequential)

35. Categorical imperative
 Immanuel Kant - a deontological ethicist
 Act as though your decision would become
universal law
 Always treat others as ends in themselves, not as
means to an end.

36. Utilitarianism
 John Stuart Mill - a teleological ethicist
 Act so you would do the greatest good for the
greatest number
 Ethical people consider the consequences of their
actions

37. Agape
 Judeo-Christian ethic
 Treat others as you would like to be treated
 The Golden Rule

38. Golden Mean
 Aristotle and Confucius
 Look for the middle course between two
extremes.
 e.g. Courage is the middle state between acting
cowardly or acting foolheartedly.
 But some situations don’t have a middle state (i.e.
stealing)

39. Veil of Ignorance
 John Rawls
 Imagine that all parties affected by the ethical
question could disappear behind a veil of
ignorance where they might trade places.
 Parties will pick the solution fairest for all out of
self interest.

40. Ethical Principles
 Categorical imperative – Immanuel Kant
 Utilitarianism – John Stuart Mill
 Agape – Judeo-Christian perspective
 Golden Mean – Aristotle and Confucius
 Veil of Ignorance – John Rawls

41. The Potter Box
Empirical Definition Choosing Loyalties
Identifying Values Appeal to Ethical Principle

42. Step 1
Define the situation.
What is the ethical dilemma? What are the facts of the
case? Are there any legal considerations?

43. Step 2
Ask yourself, “What are my personal or
professional values? What is important to me in
this situation?”

44. Step 3
Ask yourself, “What are my guiding principles?”

45. Step 4
To whom will you be loyal?

46. Step 5
Feedback
(The answer you find for your specific dilemma may become
your policy for other situations.)