Law & Ethics in Journalism The Rights and Responsibilities of the American Media (the more expurgated version)

I. Rights  A. The First Amendment

A. The First Amendment 1.There’s a reason why it’s first 2.What are the freedoms it guarantees? religion speech press assembly petition

The First Amendment to The Constitution of the United 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.

B. The First Amendment and the Student Press 1.Should student publications staff members have First Amendment rights? 2.If so, are there any circumstances or conditions under which those rights should be limited? —all the limitations of the non-student press: Libel, invasion of privacy, obscenity, copyright plus ethical considerations (e.g. truth, accuracy)

B. The First Amendment and the Student Press 3. The cases a. Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District, 1969 b. Bethel School District v. Fraser, 1986 c. Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, 1988The Cases the “bottom lines”  The erosion of  Student Expression Rights

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District (1969) B. The Tinker Standard: School administrators can restrict free expression only when… 1. it materially and substantially disrupts class work 2. it involves substantial disorder or3. it involves invasion of the rights of others

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District (1969) Significance: Students in public schools are persons who enjoy same constitutional rights of freedom of expression as adults. Set the stage for student press rights.

Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1989) B. The new standard: “Educators do not offend the First Amendment by exercising control over style and content of student speech in school-sponsored expressive activities so long as their actions are reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns.” —Justice Byron White (majority opinion)

Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1989) Significance: Students’ First Amendment rights are much more vaguely interpreted under Hazelwood than under Tinker. Student publications not designated as limited forums are subject to broad censorship.

and now, back to… Law & Ethics in Journalism The Rights and Responsibilities of the American Media (cont’d)

II Responsibilities A. Laws “But how can there be laws if ‘Congress shall make no law…’?”

A. Laws 1. Libel —written false defamation of character or: written false statements that are injurious to a person’s reputation —Four elements to libel: publication identification injury fault —standards of proof vary from state to state

A. Laws 1. Libel (cont’d) —Opinion is not libel if based on facts (truth) if clearly presented as opinion —Quoting libelous statements does not excuse you “The one who publishes pays.” Check all facts before quoting any source —Saying you were just joking won’t get you off the hook If statement could reasonable be seen as fact—libel —Best defense against libel suit is Truth and it’s best to avoid potentially libelous statements

A.Laws A.1. Libel (cont’d) Libel is not protected speech

A. Laws 2. Invasion of privacy — four forms a. intrusion or trespass —invasion of private space —taping conversation without permission or quoting without the quoted knowing he/she is “on the record” b. appropriation unauthorized use of someone’s name for commercial purposes without written consent c. false light using true information, but presenting it in such a way that it implies something false d. Private, embarrassing facts e.g. documents such as school reports, medical records

A.Laws A.2. Invasion of privacy (cont’d) Speech that invades privacy is not protected speech

A. Laws 3. Obscenity a. has been defined by the Supreme Court Case: Miller v. California, 1973 Definition: Obscenity is something that 1) by community standards, arouses sexual, lustful desire 2) depicts sexual conduct in a patently offensive way And3) (taken as a whole) lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value

A. Laws Pause and consider If you were to publish a string of “four-letter words” in your yearbook or newspaper, could you be correctly accused of publishing obscenity? Why? Why not?

A. Laws 3. Obscenity a. has been defined by the Supreme Court Case: Miller v. California, 1973 Definition: Obscenity is something that 1) by community standards, arouses sexual, lustful desire 2) depicts sexual conduct in a patently offensive way And3) (taken as a whole) lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value

A. Laws 3. Obscenity (cont’d) b. Four-letter words are not obscene They are vulgar They may offend community concepts of good taste c. Nudity is not, in itself, obscene

A.Laws A.3. Obscenity (cont’d) True obscenity is not protected speech

A. Laws 4. Copyright a. General principles —“Copyright law protects the individual’s right to control use of his/her intellectual property.” —Since 1989, use of the symbol © is not required for a piece to be protected —Assume that all published works and some unpublished works are protected by copyright law

A. Laws 4. Copyright (cont’d) b. The law protects: —the expression of ideas, but not the ideas —factual works, but not the facts c. The law does not protect —titles (e.g. of books, songs, movies) —phrases —procedures, processes, systems —a work or publication of U.S. government

A. Laws 4. Copyright (cont’d) d. Who owns a copyright? —Work for hire: the work belongs to the employer —freelance work usually belongs to the freelancer e. What about high school journalists? They own it. High school journalists are not paid, and their work is given to the paper or yearbook for specific, one-time use. Therefore, subsequent use requires separate permission of the writer

A. Laws 4. Copyright (cont’d) f. Public Domain (open to anyone’s use) —Author’s copyright is for his/her lifetime +70 years —Works for hire (e.g. magazine article), copyright lasts 95 years from date of original publication —One might assume that any work published in the U.S. before 1911 is in the public domain

A. Laws 4. Copyright (cont’d) g. Fair Use: a doctrine in copyright law that allows for uses of copyrighted material without permission —You may copy a limited portion of published material for: news reporting opinion pieces such as editorials criticism education and research

A. Laws 4. Copyright (cont’d) g. Fair Use (cont’d): —Criteria must not be a “substantial portion” of the work must not lessen the value of the work must not use the work for profit

A. Laws 4. Copyright (cont’d) h. Use of Copyrighted Material, guidelines —You may use up to 4 lines of song lyrics if author receives credit —Brief quotes with immediate credit are OK —You may quote public figures from protected stories with attribution e.g. a brief quote from the president from Time Magazine if you cite the source —Photos of newsworthy people are copyrighted but are available from news sources for a fee

A. Laws 4. Copyright (cont’d) i. You can safely print images of currency if image size and color are not same as original There is no restriction on publishing photos of coins

A. Laws 5. Trademark a. What is it? A work, name, symbol, device or combination of these used to identify a product or company b. you may: —use it to identify the product or company itself c. you may not: —use it for your own commercial purposes —use it as a yearbook theme without permission

A. Laws 6. If you want to get permission to use copyrighted trademark-protected material, a. allow at least a month to obtain it b. submit a copy of your permission-to-use document to the printer

A.Laws A.Copyright/trademark (cont’d) Speech that violates copyright or trademark is not protected speech