Description
DB 7 Media Law
1. Share with the class one area of Media Law you find interesting. Tell us what the area is and why it is interesting to you. (1 paragraph)
2.Share a current controversy regarding any area of Media Law. (2 paragraphs)
3. What are the current limitations on Freedom of Speech on social media platforms (pick a platform and discuss their policies). Do you agree or disagree with their policies? (Minimum 2 paragraphs)
Understanding Today’s Media Law
Today’s media law could be looked at as a balancing act: balancing the rights of the individual with the public’s right to know, for example, or balancing the rights of business to make money with the rights of people to use public and personal media as they see fit.
Three broad, essential areas of media law have to do with the protection of rights: personal rights, intellectual property rights, and news-gathering rights. We will look at these areas in terms of the laws they inspire and how those laws operate.
Personal Rights – Privacy
Media laws that began as protections of personal rights include privacy and defamation laws.
Privacy
The right of individuals to be let alone, especially in their own homes, has been established through common law. Privacy law is always changing with the times. For example, following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Congress passed the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act (USA PATRIOT Act, often called simply the Patriot Act). This act gave the federal government expanded rights to gain access to personal and private communications, among other things. The law also permits the government to examine more closely the books Americans buy or check out at the library. Critics of the Patriot Act consider it a threat to the right to privacy.
In the realm of media law, privacy protection has been extended in three primary areas:
1. Private Facts
This area of privacy law protects against the disclosure of embarrassing, sensitive personal information that is not essential to a news story. The classic case in this area is that of Barber v. Time . The Missouri Supreme Court ruled in 1942 that Time magazine invaded the privacy of a woman named Dorothy Barber when it published her picture as part of a story about an unusual eating disorder, one that causes victims to lose weight even though they eat large amounts of food. The court said that although Barber’s disease was newsworthy, the public could have been told of it without revealing her identity.
Most plaintiffs, however, lose private fact cases. The classic example of this occurred when a man named Oliver Sipple saved the life of President Gerald Ford in 1975, and the press reported that he was gay. Sipple, an ex-Marine, did not want his sexuality exposed to his family back in the Midwest, but the court ruled that his privacy had not been invaded because he was already a well-known member of San Francisco’s gay community. Because Sipple had already made his sexuality public, the court ruled that it was acceptable for the press to report this personal information. Private fact laws are designed to protect both public figures and everyday people, but those who become part of a news event, or are newsworthy for any reason, are accorded less protection.
2. Intrusion
This area of law prevents the press from unauthorized entry when gathering news. It is designed to protect the privacy of individuals in their homes and other places where privacy would be expected. Laws against news-gathering intrusions include restrictions on trespassing, and on the use of surveillance equipment, secret recordings, tapped phone lines, telephoto lenses, and other forms of technology that essentially trespass for you. If photographers take pictures in a public place of a newsworthy subject who can be seen with the naked eye, they are generally in the clear. However, if they physically intrude in any way on private areas, they could be in trouble.
When Playgirl magazine published nude pictures of the actor Brad Pitt in its August 1997 issue, Pitt sued under this area of privacy law, saying that the pictures had been taken by a photographer who trespassed on the grounds of a hotel where he had stayed. The judge agreed with him and not only stopped Playgirl from selling any more copies of the offending issue but also ordered a recall of the magazine. That meant that the magazines had to be pulled from newsstands and that subscribers had to be contacted and asked to send their copies back to the publisher (although few did in this case).
3. Appropriation
Appropriation is the area of privacy law that says individuals own the right to their image and name, neither of which can be used (appropriated) without their permission, except in the reporting of news. Thus, if a photographer took your picture and then used that picture in an advertisement or charged people to see it without your permission, your privacy would have been invaded. Dustin Hoffman sued under this area of privacy law when a picture of him from the movie Tootsie, in which he plays a man who pretends to be a woman, was used in an ad to sell dresses.
Appropriation as an invasion of privacy has been a particular problem on the Internet. Alyssa Milano, the star of TV series such as Who’s the Boss?, Melrose Place, and Charmed, has successfully sued the owners of several websites for posting nude photographs of her. Some of the photos were from movies she had made, but some were electronic alterations that placed her face on someone else’s body. Milano is straightforward about the commercial nature of this privacy action. “I have no problem with the nudity I’ve done,” she says. “I just don’t want someone taking it out of context and making $15,000 a month off of it.” Milano has formed a company called Cybertrackers that surfs the web for unauthorized nude photos of celebrities. She started the business after her 12-year-old brother logged on to an “Alyssa” website and got an eyeful of his famous older sister.
Several celebrities have won cases against intrusive photographers, known as paparazzi, under areas unrelated to privacy law. One of the first was Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who won a harassment case against a particularly pesky photographer, Ron Galella, in 1973. In this case the photographer was given an order stating that he had to stay 300 feet away from Kennedy’s home and 150 feet away from her person. More recently, two photographers were given jail terms of 90 and 60 days for pursuing the movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger (before he was governor of California) and his wife, the television correspondent and Kennedy cousin Maria Shriver. The photographers forced the Schwarzeneggers’ car to stop and then swarmed around it, taking pictures. They were convicted of false imprisonment and reckless driving.
DB 8 Media Ethics
1. Who is Kevin Carter (photojournalist) and what is he know for? (You can do your own research or use the articles posted below) (1 paragraph)
2. What ethical controversy surrounds one of his pictures? Name the picture and describe the controversy. (1 paragraph)
3. Do you agree with his actions? Were his actions justified? Were they ethical? (2 paragraphs)
4. Would you have handled the situation differently? If so, how? (1 paragraph)
5. What if it meant the result would be different and the impetus for aid for the region would not have existed? Is it justifiable to not intervene if it brings greater awareness to a problem or issue? (1 paragraph)
6. Share an example when you, someone you know, or someone you viewed on the internet or social media filmed a situation when they probably should have stopped recording and helped. (1 paragraph)
7. Find an example on the internet and post a link to someone who kept recording when you think they should have put the camera (phone etc…) down and helped instead of recording the situation. If we can’t click on the link for instant access you will lose 5 points. Explain what the link/video is about and why you think they should have stopped recording and helped in some way. (1 paragraph)
Articles to refer to for information on this discussion board:
Images of suffering can bring about change but are they ethical? (Links to an external site.)
Shoot First Then Help (Links to an external site.)
Movie to watch if you are interested in learning more about Kevin Carter: The Bang Bang Club
The Bang Bang Club official movie trailer (Links to an external site.)
