This seminar will examine ways in which issues in law and journalism are intertwined. First, we will examine a few of the more well-publicized First Amendment debates, particularly in the context of campus "culture wars." We will look at matters involving academic freedom, hate speech and speech/conduct codes, as well as questions surrounding controversial campus newspaper and Internet publications.
Secondly, we will compare the rhetorical conventions of law and journalism. We will compare legal and journalistic accounts of the same debates. We will also look at the tension between privacy and publicity, issues of personal perspective, the responsibilities of representation, the complexities of truth-telling, and the ethics of fairness. Thirdly, we will look at larger public policy interests, such as concentration of media ownership, propaganda, the technology of popularized culture, embedded journalism (in police stations and corporations as well as the military), access to media and diversity of opinion, cultural diversity and affirmative action in the newsroom, and the commerce of news in tension with the notion of a "free" press. This course is not chiefly about the FCC, communications law or administrative questions of media regulation.
Section Offerings for 2012-13
| Course No. | Term | Name | ||
| & Section | Instructor(s) | Schedule | Location | |
| L8173-001 | 12F | Law, Media and Public Policy | ||
| P. Williams | T 1:20 PM-3:10 PM | GRHL 502 | ||
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