Communication Law and Ethics Assignment

Communication Law and Ethics Assignment

Instructions/Descriptions

Communication Law and Ethics Assignment

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Chapters 1-3

is what the test is based on:

Chapter One 1

The American Legal System

America has become a nation of laws, lawyers and lawsuits. Both the number of lawsuits being filed and the number of lawyers have doubled since the 1970s. California has about four times as many lawyers today as it had in 1975. Nationwide, there are more than a million attorneys. For good or ill, more people with grievances are suing somebody.

The media have not escaped this flood of litigation. The nation’s broadcasters, cable and satellite television providers, newspapers, magazines, wire services, Internet services and advertising agencies are constantly fighting legal battles. Today few media executives can do their jobs without consulting lawyers regularly. Moreover, legal problems are not just head- aches for top executives. Working media professionals run afoul of the law regularly, facing lawsuits and even jail sentences.

Million-dollar verdicts against the media are no longer unusual, and the big national media are by no means the only targets. For example, in 1980 one medium-size newspa- per in Idaho was ordered to pay $1.9 million in a libel case—not because the newspaper published a horribly libelous falsehood but merely because the paper refused to say who told a reporter where to find public records about wrongdoing by an insurance company. A higher court eventually set aside that ruling, but by then the paper had spent thousands of dollars on legal expenses to defend itself (Sierra Life v. Magic Valley Newspapers, 6 Media L. Rep. 1769). Likewise, those who do video production work, prepare advertising copy or post material on the Internet may risk lawsuits, and threats of lawsuits, for anything from libel to copyright infringement to invasion of privacy. More than ever before, a knowledge of media law is essential for a successful career in mass communications.

This textbook was written for communications students and media professionals, not for lawyers or law students. We will begin by explaining how the American legal system works.

THE KEY ROLE OF THE COURTS

Mass media law is largely based on court decisions. Even though Congress and the 50 state legislatures have enacted many laws affecting the media, the courts play the decisive role in interpreting those laws. For that matter, the courts also have the final say in interpret- ing the meaning of our most important legal document, the U.S. Constitution. The courts have the power to modify or even overturn laws passed by state legislatures and Congress, particularly when a law conflicts with the Constitution. In so doing, the courts have the power to establish legal precedent, handing down rules that other courts must ordinarily follow in deciding similar cases.

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But not all court decisions establish legal precedents, and not all legal precedents are equally important as guidelines for later decisions. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the country; its rulings are generally binding on all lower courts. On matters of state law the highest court in each of the 50 states (usually called the state supreme court) has the final say—unless one of its rulings somehow violates the U.S. Consti- tution. On federal matters the U.S. Courts of Appeals rank just below the U.S. Supreme Court. All of these courts are appellate courts; cases are appealed to them from trial courts.

Trial vs. appellate courts. There is an important difference between trial and appellate courts. While appellate courts make precedent-setting decisions that interpret the meaning of law, trial courts are responsible for deciding factual issues such as the guilt or innocence

Communication Law and Ethics Assignment

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