Tips for Reaction Papers —A Reaction Paper is just what its name implies — in order to apply information from the text, readings, and current media trends. You will be required to write a ‘reaction paper’ on assigned chapter readings. You will post your reaction paper on each reading assignment. Reaction Papers are due at the beginning of the each Tuesday class. You are to react in writing to something you have read in the text. I do not want a summary, an outline of the content, or mindlessness like ‘I really enjoyed the chapter’ or anything like that. I want your REACTION and I want it in two paragraph or three FOR EACH CHAPTER. Your reaction should NOT be like this ‘I really enjoyed reading the chapter, it was very informative and I learned a lot from the chapter. I now understand what the chapter is about and the book is interesting and I am sure I will learn a lot more from each chapter of the book. Your reaction should be like this ‘Going through alternative leads on a step-by-step basis, such as in the accidental fire story, was really helpful to illustrate what is meant by the focus of the story. I was interested to see in the rescue story how other media kept reporting the rescue as completed while this reporter was on the scene and it was still going on. I wonder what effect this has on media credibility. I didn’t know that a reporter sometimes has to really correct spelling of names. The Wall Street Journal reporter seemed to start out with a slant favoring Nixon, but the evidence changed her mind. I guess it’s OK to start a story with your mind made up if you are open to changing your mind when the evidence warrants. Chapter 10 Mass Media Law The heart of U.S. mass media law is the First Amendment’s guarantee of free expression. The First Amendment has come to be applied more broadly over the year. A core American value is that the government cannot impede free expression, which, of course, extends to the mass media. Although the U.S. Constitution bars government censorship, the courts have allowed exceptions. These exceptions include utterances that could undermine national security in wartime. In general the Supreme Court has expanded the prohibition on censorship over the years, all in the liberation spirit articulated by John Milton in the 1600s. John Milton introduced marketplace of ideas—people are capable of identifying good ideas among many as long as they have access to them all. In John Milton’s study Areopagitica in 1644, Milton saw free expression as the vehicle for putting a vast range of ideas into circulation. The founders of the Republic were mostly Libertarians like Milton, heady in a positive view of individuals and their power of reason. Libertarianism means uninhibited freedom of inquiry and expression. Distrust of Government When the Revolutionary War ended, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, and John Adams, drafting the Constitution for the new Republic. After many suggestions, finally, the First Amendment was drafted by James Madison. The Constitution they put together prohibits government from interfering in free expression. The prohibition is in the Constitution’s First Amendment. Congress shall make no law …. Abridging the freedom of speech or the press. The Amendment prohibits government from interfering in religion, free speech and free press and expression. In this respect, the media, in news as well as in other content area, are an informal fourth branch of government in addition to executive, judicial and legislative branches. Six years after the Constitution and the First Amendment, Congress passed laws to limit free expression. People were jailed and fined for criticizing government leaders and policies. These laws, the Alien and Sedition acts of 1798 (laws with penalties for free expression). Not until 1919 did the U.S. Supreme Court decide a case on First Amendment (two socialists, husband and wife Charles Schenck and Elizabeth sued that the government had violated their free expression right that is guaranteed by the First Amendment. The S.C. turned the case down and said that censorship is reasonable in war. In 1925, the Court overturned a New York anti-war agitator Benjamin Gitlow who was arrested and lost his case, but the acknowledged that the state censorship laws in general were unconstitutional. Prior Restraint (prohibiting expression in advance) A major decision from the Supreme Court (in 1931) that barred the government interference with free expression in advance. The S. C. Court decision came down with a Landmark Near v. Minnesota case which government shut down the publication for criticizing some government officials for corruption. Finally, in 1934, prior restraint was abolished. Pentagon Papers (case in which the government attempted prior restraint against the New York Times) An important case of 1972 during the Vietnam War, when Supreme Court overruled the government for threatening the New York Times for a series of articles drawn from classified defense documents. The case is known as Pentagon Papers (New York Times and Washington Post known as Pentagon Papers), the Court said that the people’s right to know about government policy was more important than the government’s claim that the Times was jeopardizing national security. Word Doctrine (the idea that censorship can be justified against inciting provocation to violence) The case was involved with a man (Walter Chpplinsky) who had taken to the streets to deride religions other than his own which resulted in riot and the court decision was the willingness to consider public safety as a value that sometimes should outweigh freedom of expression as a value. TPM— The court accept the time, place and manner by the government on using the TPM standard. Government may control expression as long as limits are content-neutral. Political Speech The U.S. Supreme Court’s initial First Amendment decisions involved political speech. The justices had no problem applying protections against government interference to political discourse, which is essential in democracy. It became apparent, however, that a fence cannot easily be erected between political and nonpolitical discourse. The justices saw free exchanges of political ideas as necessary for a functioning democracy. Political speech is protected by the First Amendment. Commercial Speech Advertising, called commercial speech in legal circles, also was not easily separated from political speech, as the Supreme Court discovered in a libel case. In the Landmark case New York Time v. Sullivan case in 1964, the court found the ad to be political speech and began opening the door for First Amendment protection of advertising—although the process of full protection for advertising remains a work in progress. Symbolic Speech A nonverbal expression that nonetheless make a statement A breakthrough 1969 decision, the Supreme Court found in favor of three junior high school children Des Moines, Iowa, who showed up in school with black armbands to protest the Vietnam War Silently. They were suspended but, the Supreme Court decided that wearing armband was constitutionally protected, especially considering that there had been no disruption at the school. Emotive Speech Expressions whose excess underscore the intensity of an emotion A young man showed up at the Los Angles courthouse wearing a jacket whose back carried a message: ‘Fuck the Draft.’ Paul Robert Cohn was sent to jail for 30 days. The Supreme Court overturned the conviction. Justice John Harlan wrote that linguistic expression needs to allow for ‘inexpressible emotions,’ sometimes called emotive speech. Words are often chosen as much for their emotive as their Flag Burning At the 1984 Republican national convention in Dallas, Joey Johnson marched with protesters with flag burning. Johnson’s supporters chanted ‘America, the red, white, and blue, we spit on you. The flag burning was a powerful gesture, a political gesture, against President Reagan. The Supreme Court found that the arrest was wrong and said that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable. The Supreme Court overturned the conviction on First Amendment ground. Hate Speech Emotions runs high on First Amendment issues when national security is at stake or when expression is obnoxious or even vile. Hate speech is offensive expression, especially those aimed at racial, ethnic and sexual-orientation minorities. This point, made in the Brandenburg case, has come up in Court decisions against hate speech laws that grew out of the political correctness movement of 1990s. The decision was a slap at the political correctness movement’s attempts to discourage language that can be taken offensively. Broadcast Regulation With the technology of radio in the market in 1920s, Congress established the Federal Commission in 1927 to facilitate the development of the new radio industry. Government came up with the concept that the airwaves, which carried radio signals, were a public asset and therefore, somewhat like a public part, were subject to government regulation for the public good. The airwave concept was the justification for government regulation of 1927. Therefore, for radio stations to go on air and use public airwave should be licensed before operations. Congress created an agency called Federal Communication Commission and later it expanded to television. Defamation When the mass media carry disparaging descriptions and comments, they risk being sued for libel. The media have a strong dense if the libel was accurate. If not, there can be big trouble. Libel is a serious matter, not only are reputations at stake when defamation occurs, but also losing a suit can be so costly that it can put a publication or broadcast organization out of business. The Supreme Court said freedom of speech and the press is not a license to say absolutely anything about anybody. If a libeling statement is false and the person’s reputation damage, then monitory will be awarded against the libelous. The Landmark decision on New York Times v. Sullivan of 1964—(libel case that largely barred public figures from the right to sue for libel), the Supreme Court said the paper was not found guilty of reckless disregard of the truth and N.Y. Times won. Government officials, political candidates and publicly hounds (people who seek publicity or intentionally draw attention to themselves) must prove ‘reckless disregard of the truth,’ if they sue for libel. Fair Comment and criticism (Doctrine that permits criticism of performers performances) — This doctrine allows journalist/others to assess and criticize the government officials based on their performance or behavior. Trespassing It is illegal for news reporters to go into a private area without permission. In a case involving the Food Lion supermarket chain that resulted in a 5.5 million dollars against ABC television. Food Lion was told that there is a report on rats and spoilage in store backrooms as well as unfair labor practices. The Food Lion allowed ABC to enter Food lion is not what they claimed to be. Rather, ABC investigate other things that they had to lie. The food Lion won the case based on fraud by undercover reporters to investigate the Food Lion payroll which was trespassing claimed by company. No one can trespass without permission. Indecency and Obscenity Despite the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of expression, the U.S. government has tried numerous ways during the past 100 years to regulate obscenity and pornography. The United State Supreme Court has ruled that pornography, material aimed at sexual arousal, cannot be stopped. Import and postal restrictions, however still can be employed against obscene materials, which the Court has defined as going beyond pornography. Obscenity restrictions apply, said the Court, if the answer is yes to all of the following questions: a. Would a typical person applying local standards see the material as appealing mainly for its sexually arousing effect? b. Is the material lack of serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value? c. If sexual activity depicted offensively, in a way that violates state law that explicitly define offensiveness? Protecting Children Although the Supreme Court has found that the First Amendment protects access to pornography, the Court has stated on numerous occasions that children must be protected from sexually explicit material. The difficulty of defining indecency and the impossibility of denying questionable material to children without restricting freedom of access for adults. Patriot Act In 2011 law that gave federal agents new authority to pre-empt terrorism. The patriot Act was passed when 9/11 attack in New York and Washington took place in 2001. Bush administration quickly drafted legislation to give authorities more power to track terrorists. Intellectual Property Products produced by mass-media companies go by the legal name of intellectual property. Copyright law protects ownership rights to intellectual property. Other rights, including consumer rights and free expression rights, have arisen to challenge the long held supremacy of copyright. Copyright law protects the ownership rights of creative works including books, articles, music, arts and lyrics. No work of others should be used unless with permission which is grant of rights for a second party to use copyright protection work. Piracy—theft of copyright-protected material and Infringement is a violation of copyright Purchase answer to see full attachment Explanation & Answer: 3 Paragraphs Tags: Mass Media Law Thomas Jefferson James Maddison User generated content is uploaded by users for the purposes of learning and should be used following Studypool’s honor code & terms of service.