Communication 440/
Political Science 461

Mass Media Law

Course Introduction

Welcome to Mass Media Law, a 400-level course offered by the University of Washington Educational Outreach. The media have unusual legal protections in this country because of the First Amendment and various state constitutions. They are also expected to play a crucial role in the democratic process—that of informing and educating the public and reporting on the actions of public officials and problems in society. This course examines the media's legal rights in gathering, preparing, and disseminating news and entertainment in light of those protections and responsibilities. It also explores the legal differences between political speech and commercial speech.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, you should be able to

• connect the historical foundation of press freedom in the United States with today's modern interpretations of the First Amendment;
• describe the constitutional protections afforded the mass media and how those protections have evolved and are still evolving in the twenty-first century;
• identify and avoid potential legal problems within the media;
• read and analyze a court opinion involving the First Amendment; and
• use analytical reasoning to construct a legal argument and to understand the reasoning of others.

The Online Environment

Your online course offers several advantages to the traditional classroom, including the comprehensive Online Student Handbook, the ability to communicate electronically with students and with your instructor, and links to a rich array of online resources.

Online Student Handbook

This handbook answers questions about your online learning course, such as how to purchase your text, schedule an exam, obtain a transcript, and get technical help if you need it. The handbook also provides additional resources, such as how to order books or journals from the library and how to study for an online course.

Communication with Your Instructor and Student Peers

• Online Discussion Forums, designed by the University of Washington award-winning Catalyst team, allow you to communicate with other currently enrolled students and with your instructor. While the forum is monitored by your instructor, we encourage you to use this opportunity to exchange ideas, resources, and comments about your course work with other students in this course. See COM440 Discussion Forum below for specific details about how this course uses the online forum.
• You may also use e-mail to ask your instructor course-related, more personal questions, such as questions about your grade or comments about your assignments.

Online Resources

As an online student, you have access to a wealth of Web resources compiled to provide fast, easy access to information that supports your online learning experience. Organized by subjects, Online Resources link you to sites with help for writing and research, study skills, language learning, and library reference materials. All links have been assessed for credibility and reliability, and they are regularly monitored to ensure their usability.

Course Materials

Textbook

We will rely on Don Pember and Clay Calvert's textbook, Mass Media Law (2007-2008) in this course. This text covers all areas of the law that a professional communicator needs to know in his or her work.

Court Decisions

You will also read a court decision. Don't be intimidated by the prospect of reading a court case. I'll provide guidance on how to read and analyze it.

Daily News

Finally, legal issues affecting the media and your First Amendment rights are continuously being shaped by the courts, state legislatures, administrative agencies and Congress. Given the dynamic nature of the law and our judicial system, it's impossible for any media law textbook to remain complete and up-to-date after publication. The only sure way to keep up with developments in the law is to keep up with the news. I urge you to read a daily newspaper or news magazine and to discuss current issues involving media law in our electronic discussion forum.

About this Course

The course, designed to be completed in three months, consists of eleven lessons that correspond to the textbook. Please use the Course Calendar, linked here and from your course syllabus, to create a schedule for yourself that will allow you to plan your time and to complete the course by your end date. I encourage you to send me the assignment due dates you create.

In addition to the lessons and assigned readings, there will be four graded assignments, five practice exercises, two study guides, a practice midterm examination (linked from the course syllabus), and a proctored final examination. Practice activities—exercises, midterm, and study guides —are discussed below, along with two other components of your online course, Key Terms and the COM440/POL S 461 Discussion Forum.

Practice Exercises and Study Guides

There are five practice exercises designed to help prepare you to complete the graded written assignments and to take the practice midterm exam and the graded final examination. (These exercises are located after Lessons Two, Four, Eight, Ten, and Eleven.) You will not turn these exercises in to me, but I'd be happy to answer any questions that you might have as you work on them. I have provided precise instructions for each exercise, and you will find model answers in the Exercise Answer Key linked to each exercise.

The practice midterm exam covers Lessons One through Four and will help prepare you for the graded final exam. This open-book exam involves a combination of short-answer questions and case problems. You will find model answers in the Practice Midterm Answer Key. The material preceding the practice midterm includes advice on preparing for the exam.

Study Guides

You do not need to submit your answers to the study questions.

After Lessons Five and Six, you will find study questions to help you assess your understanding of the material. These questions directly correspond to the objectives of the lesson. Although they are not graded, I encourage you to answer them on your own before referring to the model answers, which are linked to the questions.

Key Terms

Each lesson includes terms that are important to the concepts you will learn in the lesson and are intended to serve as guides to your study. These terms are boldfaced and italicized where they appear in the text, and are also shown in a sidebar and compiled at the end of the lessons. You will be expected to use the terms in your written work whenever it is appropriate. You will find the terms defined in the lesson commentary, the assigned readings, or both.

COM440/POL S 461Discussion Forum

Participating in the electronic discussion forum is a required part of this course. You must participate at least six times during the course. Don't leave this requirement to the last days of your enrollment in the class. That would defeat the purpose of this forum. See the Online Environment section earlier in this introduction for general information and guidelines about using the forum.

Given the dynamic and sometimes controversial nature of the course materials, the discussion forum provides students with a much-needed outlet to exchange ideas and opinions about issues discussed in class or in the news. (When I teach this class on-site, I often have students participate in debates.) We can also use the forum to alert each other to television programs, movies, Internet sites, newspaper and magazine articles, and meetings that deal with media law.

Course Overview

The First Amendment of the Constitution states:

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.

We take for granted that we can speak out for or against the mayor's position on taxes, or the president's position on abortion. We know that we can publish a newspaper, write a letter to the editor, produce a show for cable access, or create a Web site on the Internet.

But in practice the First Amendment is not absolute. You cannot yell "Fire!" in a crowded theater unless there's a fire—you might cause a panic and someone might get hurt. You cannot disclose military secrets to the enemy in wartime—it might compromise our national security. You cannot play your stereo loudly at 3:00 in the morning—you might wake the neighbors. You may tell lies about others, but you may have to reimburse them for damages you cause to their reputations—sometimes millions of dollars.

What are the boundaries of free speech? In Mass Media Law, we will examine the laws affecting the mass media and the people who use them—viewers, listeners, and readers. This examination will include an historical overview of press freedom, a study of how the courts have attempted to reconcile competing societal interests (such as freedom to publish vs. the individual's right of privacy), and a survey of the numerous laws that affect the American press, from open meetings laws to broadcast licensing requirements.

This course is primarily designed for the present or future media professional. If you have or seek a career in the news media, advertising, public relations, technical writing, or filmmaking, this course is designed to give you an understanding of both the breadth and limits of your rights of expression. If you are a school media adviser, this course will enable you to make informed legal decisions about appropriate newspaper or program content. For example, what can a journalist or an advertiser say about a person without risking a libel suit? Under what circumstances can a technical writer quote from the work of another without violating copyright laws? What is obscenity?

Even if you do not seek a media career, this course will benefit you as a media consumer. Freedom of the press affects anyone who reads books, watches television, or listens to music. For example, what rights do television viewers have to challenge the programming choices of television stations? How are cable companies treated differently than television stations? When might you sue a newspaper for invasion of privacy?

As we examine these issues, keep in mind that this course is not intended to train lawyers. You will not come away from this course with knowledge of civil procedure or rules of evidence. Rather, the purpose is to give you an understanding of media law sufficient to allow you to identify and avoid problems that may arise in your later professional or academic life. You will also learn the general boundaries of lawful and ethical behavior within the media industry.

Keep in mind that, in this course, we define "mass communication" broadly; it is not just radio, television, and newspapers, but billboards, handbills, video cassettes, movies, musical recordings, magazines, newsletters, computer software, Internet publications, newsgroups, Web sites, and the like.

About the Lessons/Assignments

The course consists of eleven lessons that correspond to the textbook. The first lesson is intended to give you a background in the American legal system—where the law comes from and how the courts apply it. The second will look at the historical development of the American concepts of freedom of the press and freedom of speech. The remaining lessons will address distinct and significant areas of media law: libel, invasion of privacy, open records and meetings laws, protection of news sources, access to court proceedings, obscenity, copyright, regulation of advertising, and regulation of telecommunications.

There are four graded assignments in this course. I'll provide thorough instructions for each assignment, and I encourage you to contact me any time you have a question or a concern about the material.

Lesson One—The American Legal System

The lesson familiarizes you with the basic structure of the American legal system. First, what is "the law" and where does it come from? Second, how is the law applied?

In the United States, there are six basic sources of law. While the Constitution is the supreme law of the land, we have five others: the common law, the law of equity, administrative rules, executive orders, and statutory law. Each plays a significant role in defining the rights of individuals and in shaping our society and institutions.

You will also learn about the system in which the law operates—the court system. In the United States, there are really two court systems: the federal courts and the state courts. In each, there are trial courts (courts that may consider both the facts and the law in a case) and appellate courts (courts that, using the factual record developed in the trial court, review a trial court's application of the law). The Supreme Court of the United States, as the highest court in the country, is the final interpreter of the United States Constitution. The state supreme courts are the final interpreter of their states' constitutions, although when differences arise between the state and the U.S. constitutions, the Supreme Court of the United States resolves them.

Assignment 1 is due after this lesson. You'll be asked to brief a court case.

Lesson Two—The First Amendment

This lesson provides an historical overview of the concept of free speech from the sixteenth century to the present. How did we move from a country where printing presses were licensed and criticism of government was outlawed to a nation whose citizens take their freedoms of speech and the press for granted? We will also study various First Amendment theories that Supreme Court justices have applied over the years.

In addition, we will analyze those few instances when the government can legally censor material before publication. Prior restraint has been upheld in limited circumstances, such as when a newspaper attempted to publish information about building a hydrogen bomb, or when a school principal censored a student newspaper. Finally, we will study "time, place, and manner" rules that, when justified by a "substantial government interest," regulate the time, place, or manner of speaking, publishing, or distributing printed material. For example, setting uniform noise levels for all types of outdoor music concerts would be a "time, place, and manner" restriction.

There is no graded assignment for this lesson; however, you will be asked to analyze cases involving prior restraint in Practice Exercise 1 at the end of this lesson.

Lesson Three—Libel

Defamation is "a communication which has the tendency to so harm the reputation of another as to lower him (or her) in the estimation of the community or to deter third persons from associating with him or her," according to the American Law Institute's The Restatement of Torts.

Libel law has evolved in the years since the U.S. Supreme Court's 1964 decision in New York Times v. Sullivan. There, the Court turned away from the doctrine of "strict liability," under which a defendant, such as a newspaper, was liable for defaming a public official regardless of how cautious it had been in publishing the material. In its place, the Court required that a public official suing for libel show not only that a statement was false, but also that it was published with "actual malice," i.e., knowledge that the statement was false or reckless disregard for its truth or falsity.

Since then, the courts have struggled to find a balance between the rights of the press—and society's interest in an open and robust marketplace of ideas—and the right of an individual to protect his or her reputation. In this lesson, we will study the development of libel law from the Sullivan case to the present with an eye toward the balance of competing interests. Moreover, in order to provide you with a working familiarity of libel law, we will review the elements of libel, standards of proof required to prove a libel suit (especially the higher standards for public figures), circumstances in which defamatory communications are protected, and the damages that a libel plaintiff may recover.

Assignment 2, which is graded, is due after this lesson. You'll analyze a case problem involving libel.

Lesson Four—Invasion of Privacy

The "right of privacy" is a relatively new concept. Until the twentieth century, no court recognized that an individual had a right to stop unwarranted intrusions upon his or her private life. Today, however, most states recognize some kind of legal protection for individual privacy, though it varies widely from state to state.

This lesson will address the four separate torts, or legal wrongs, that constitute the law of privacy as it involves the media. First, it will address "appropriation," the taking of a person's name, picture, photograph, or likeness and using it for commercial gain without permission.

The second involves intentional "intrusion" upon the solitude or private life of another. This tort involves such matters as wiretaps, hidden cameras or microphones, or trespasses onto private property. We will discuss what constitutes a "legitimate expectation of solitude" and will see how this concept has been applied in specific cases.

The third tort, "publicity about private facts," is probably what most people think about when they think about invasion of privacy. Under this tort, the publication of private information about another person's life is an invasion of privacy where the publication would be embarrassing to a reasonable person and the information is not of legitimate public concern. But what is "private information"? What is "legitimate public concern"? We will examine these concepts, keeping in mind the balance between the public's right to information and the individual's right to privacy.

The fourth privacy tort arises when one publishes information that places another in a false light. Many "false light" privacy suits involve publication of false information about an individual in a news article or the publication of a photograph of persons not involved in a news story as illustrations of the story. Still another example involves works of fiction that portray a recognizable real person. We will study the elements of this tort in these settings.

There is no graded assignment for this lesson; however, you will be asked to analyze case problems involving invasion of privacy in Practice Exercise 2 at the end of this lesson.

Practice Midterm Preparation

The practice midterm examination is designed to help you to evaluate your understanding of the materials covered in the first four lessons of the course. You will take the midterm online after completing Lesson Four.

Lesson Five—Access to Information

Do reporters have a constitutional right to gather information? In this lesson, we will discuss to what extent the First Amendment works to help journalists gain access to newsworthy events and documents, and to block government efforts to prosecute reporters for the way they gather news. We will also study statutory provisions that help reporters gain access to government meetings and documents—such as the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), states' open meetings and open records laws—and others that hinder the access of reporters to information, such as the federal Privacy Act and the numerous FOIA exemptions.

You will apply information from this lesson in the third graded assignment due after Lesson Seven. In addition, there are study questions to help you assess your understanding of access issues at the end of this lesson.

Lesson Six—Protection of News Sources

Let's say you are a reporter for your college paper, writing an article on drug use on campus. In researching this article, you must interview students who use drugs. You learn through the grapevine the names of some students who would be willing to be interviewed as long as you don't reveal their names. You agree, and publish an article based on the interviews.

You are then called before a grand jury investigating drug use, where you are ordered to testify as to the identities of the persons you interviewed. If you comply, your sources may be charged with crimes, and your ability to gather news from confidential sources will be harmed irreparably. Your readers will never again learn information such as that contained in your article, since no news sources will trust you to keep their identities secret. If you refuse to comply, you may be held in "contempt of court"—the broad power of a court to punish persons who refuse to obey a judge's order.

What rights do reporters have to refuse to disclose the identities of their confidential sources? To what extent must they comply with subpoenas demanding that they turn over their notes or photographs to law enforcement agencies? What limits exist on judges' contempt powers to punish those who refuse to obey their directives? Finally, what rights does a source have against a reporter who discloses his or her identity? We'll answer these questions in this lesson.

You will apply information from this lesson in the third graded assignment due after Lesson Seven. In addition, there are study questions to help you assess your understanding of confidentiality issues at the end of this lesson.

Lesson Seven—Free Press and Fair Trial

While the First Amendment protects freedom of the press, the Sixth Amendment insures every criminal defendant a fair trial. Many argue that media publicity about court cases often prejudices people in a community about the guilt or innocence of a defendant, making it impossible to find impartial jurors who will view a case with open minds. News stories about a defendant's past criminal history or suggestions as to his or her guilt or innocence are examples of media coverage that may prejudice potential jurors. In these situations, judges have sometimes issued "gag orders" restricting all or partial news coverage of a judicial proceeding. These orders may also restrict trial participants—such as lawyers or witnesses—from speaking to the media. At other times, a judge may consider closing a judicial proceeding.

Under what circumstances are such restrictions allowable under the Constitution? This lesson will discuss these problems and will review the tests set forth by the courts for reconciling the constitutional rights that are in apparent conflict in these situations.

Assignment 3, which is graded, is due after this lesson. You'll analyze a case problem that examines several issues discussed in Lessons Five, Six, and Seven.

Lesson Eight—Obscene and Pornographic Material

Obscenity is not protected by the Constitution. But how do we define obscenity? Through the years, judges have used vague and amorphous definitions to censor speech that may be obscene in their eyes, but important communication in the eyes of others. Cultural and generational differences may be the basis for suppression of politically charged speech, parody, or great literature.

This lesson is intended not only to provide you with knowledge of the current legal definition of obscenity—and related issues such as zoning of adult book stores—but also with an understanding of the ramifications of suppressing obscene speech.

There is no graded assignment for this lesson; however, you will be asked to analyze a case involving an obscenity prosecution in Practice Exercise 3 at the end of this lesson.

Lesson Nine—Copyright

Copyright law protects the author of an original work "fixed in any tangible medium of expression" from unauthorized use. This lesson will help you to (1) identify copyright infringement situations, (2) protect your own works from unauthorized use, and (3) avoid using the copyrighted works of others in an illegal manner.

Assignment 4, which is graded, is due after this lesson. You'll analyze a case problem involving copyright law.

Lesson Ten—Regulation of Advertising

As recently as 1942, the Supreme Court determined that "purely commercial advertising" did not enjoy First Amendment protection. The First Amendment, the justices ruled, was intended to protect political expression, not ads. But in the 1970s, the Court began to reject this narrow view and recognized for the first time a limited constitutional protection of advertising—or what the Court calls "commercial speech." However, the Court made clear that the government may regulate any advertising that is false, misleading, or deceptive, or which proposes an illegal transaction.

This lesson will give you a working familiarity with government regulation of commercial speech. When is an advertisement "misleading" or "deceptive"? For example, may an actor endorse a product he or she does not actually use? What is the role of the Federal Trade Commission in regulating commercial speech? What powers does that agency have to enforce its rulings? And how have the courts interpreted the Central Hudson test when evaluating the constitutionality of government-imposed advertising restrictions?

There is no graded assignment for this lesson; however, you will be asked to analyze cases involving advertising regulations in Practice Exercise 4 at the end of this lesson.

Lesson Eleven—Telecommunication Regulations

Broadcasters often say that they are treated as second-class citizens under the First Amendment. Unlike newspapers, they must apply for licenses. They must also limit the amount of advertising during children's programs and provide equal time to political candidates.

But in many ways, broadcasters are given a preferred position in our society. They are given the right to use the publicly owned radio spectrum, free of charge, to the exclusion of all others who would like to use that frequency.

In this lesson, we will discuss the differences between broadcasters and print media such as newspapers and magazines. What is the rationale for government licensing of broadcasters? How do they choose among competing applicants for broadcast frequencies? What conditions does the government place on the granting of broadcast licenses, and what justifications does it have for imposing such conditions?

We will also discuss the regulation of cable television. Unlike broadcasting, cable primarily relies on cables strung underground or on telephone poles to bring programming to the home. Because cable television companies make use of public streets and rights-of-way controlled by local governments, they are generally regulated pursuant to "franchises" or contracts. You will learn about the legal differences among cable, broadcasting, and the Internet, and how these differences affect programming content.

There is no graded assignment for this lesson; however, you will be asked to analyze cases involving telecommunication regulations in Practice Exercise 5 at the end of this lesson.

Preparing for the Final Examination

This section will help prepare you for the comprehensive final examination. See the About the Exam section below for details. You will take the proctored final examination after completing Lesson Eleven.

About the Exam

This course has one graded test—the final exam. The two-hour final exam is comprehensive— that is, it will cover material throughout the course. Like your practice midterm, the final exam involves a combination of short-answer questions and case problems. You may refer to the textbook during the exam, but you may not use your notes or the prepared lessons. You do not need to bring a blue book to the exam because you can write on the test itself.

The exam questions will assess your ability to understand the readings and to apply what you've learned to new situations. I won't ask questions that require you to dredge up obscure information from the textbook. Instead, I want you to focus on the key ideas, concepts, arguments, and legal tests developed by the courts. The practice midterm exam will help you prepare for the final exam.

Assessment and Grading

Your grade for the course is derived from four assignments, the final exam, and participation in the discussion forum. For your first written assignment, you'll be asked to brief a court case. The other three assignments will involve case problems that you'll need to analyze, using the appropriate legal principles and precedents. I'll grade each assignment using the University of Washington's standard 4.0 grading scale, outlined in your Online Student Handbook.

Criteria for Grading

I'll provide detailed instructions and evaluation criteria for each assignment. That said, here are some general criteria. In evaluating your assignments and the final exam, I will look for evidence that you can

• identify and apply the appropriate legal rules to the questions asked;
• synthesize and analyze information from a variety of cases;
• evaluate the evidence used to support or refute legal arguments;
• argue persuasively your understanding of the law as it pertains to the questions asked;
• organize effectively information and your own ideas; and
• express your thoughts clearly and concisely.

Calculating your Grade

The following list shows the assignments and exams and designates after which lesson to submit each. Although you will not be submitting the practice exercises and midterm, they are included to emphasize their importance to the course work and to your performance on the final examination.Your final grade will be calculated as follows:

Assignments/Exams	Due	Percentage of Final Grade
Assignment 1	after Lesson 1	10%
Practice Exercise 1	after Lesson 2 (Do NOT submit)
Assignment 2	after Lesson 3	20%
Practice Exercise 2	after Lesson 4 (Do NOT submit)
Practice Midterm Exam	after Practice Exercise 2 (Do NOT submit)
Study Questions	after Lesson 5 (Do NOT submit)
Study Questions	after Lesson 6 (Do NOT submit)
Assignment 3	after Lesson 7	20%
Practice Exercise 3	after Lesson 8 (Do NOT submit)
Assignment 4	after Lesson 9	20%
Practice Exercise 4	after Lesson 10 (Do NOT submit)
Practice Exercise 5	after Lesson 11 (Do NOT submit)
Final Examination	after Lesson 11	30%
Total		100%

Note: Failure to participate at least six times in the discussion forum throughout the class will result in a 0.3 deduction in your final course grade. If you wait until the last days of your enrollment to participate, you will receive a 0.2 deduction.

Study Tips

Media law is challenging. The text is excellent, but it is not easy. Don't expect to cram for the final exam—you must be prepared to study and understand the key issues as we go along. There is no short-cut to learning this material. When you study, think in terms of legal concepts—what is the purpose behind a body of law? How is the law applied to a particular set of facts? Why does the law change over time?

To make the best use of your time, I suggest that you read the lessons in the online course material before studying the textbook. Of course, I will be happy to answer any questions you may have as you study the materials.

Don't forget to keep track of current issues relating to media law and to discuss them in the discussion forum.

About the Developer

Linda Lawson has been teaching courses in First Amendment law and journalistic writing for more than 15 years. She served on the faculty at Indiana University, where she was also the associate dean for research and graduate studies in the School of Journalism. She also taught journalism courses at Michigan State University and Ferris State College and has directed the information program for a state consumer agency in Michigan.

She received her Ph.D. in communications from the University of Washington and holds undergraduate and master's degrees in journalism from Michigan State University.

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