MASS MEDIA

U.S. Constitution1st Amendment

Is made with the intent – intentional or otherwise – to injure the reputation of someone else, but a really important aspect to defamation cases is that you’ve got to be able to prove that the comment was made with malice and that it was a false comment.

Defamation of Character

1) The comment must be a false statement 2) The comment is understood to be

intended against another person, business, or product

3) The comment is verbalized or written to at least one other person

4) The comment is understood to damage another person’s reputation

Defamation Includes 4 main points:

Libel and slander are both legal terms that refer to communications that can hurt a person’s reputation--and they can both lead to lawsuits--but the terms are not identical. When it comes to defending your reputation, it’s worth knowing the difference between these important legal concepts.

Libel and Slander

Libel is a written defamatory statement, while slander is a spoken defamatory statement. The tricky thing about libel is that it includes symbols, drawings, or the written word. So, those pictures you drew of your high school science teacher with the head of a pig were technically libelous.

Because slander is expressed verbally, it’s not a criminal offense like libel. This really makes slander hard to prove, because not only do you have to show that the statement was made, but you also have to show that damage was done.

Libel vs. Slander

Tocqueville thought very highly of American Democracy, describing it's potential in perpetuation of the achievement of "human greatness.”

Tocqueville viewed philosophes with slight disdain because of the impracticality, but in the United States, Alexis wrote that they exist as one of the most developed countries that does not preoccupy themselves with "philosophic thought."

Tocqueville sights this as the reason for their achievements in politics, democracy and "human greatness".

Alexis de TocquevilleDemocracy in America

FCC – Federal Communication Commission

Regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire,

satellite and cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.

It was established by the Communications Act of 1934 and operates as an independent U.S.

government agency overseen by Congress.

The commission is committed to being a responsive, efficient and effective agency

capable of facing the technological and economic opportunities of the new millennium.

In its work, the agency seeks to capitalize on its competencies in:

Promoting competition, innovation, and investment in broadband services and facilities;

Supporting the nation’s economy by ensuring an appropriate competitive framework for the unfolding of the communications revolution;

Encouraging the highest and best use of spectrum domestically and internationally;

Revising media regulations so that new technologies flourish alongside diversity and localism;

Providing leadership in strengthening the defense of the nation’s communications infrastructure.

FCC “cont”

The agency is directed by 5 commissioners who are appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

The president also selects one of the commissioners to serve as chairman. Only three commissioners can be of the same political party at any given time and none can have a financial interest in any commission-related business.

All commissioners, including the chairman, have five-year terms, except when filling an unexpired term.

FCC - Leadership

Julius Genachowski – FCC, Chairman

Since being sworn in as Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission in June 2009, Julius Genachowski has focused the agency on digital communications, particularly wired and wireless broadband -- pursuing policies to promote investment, unleash innovation, and empower consumers.

Genachowski received a J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1991, and served as co-Notes Editor of the Harvard Law Review. In 1985, he received a B.A. from Columbia College, magna cum laude, where he was Editor of Columbia Spectator's Broadway Magazine; re-established Columbia's oldest newspaper Acta Columbiana; and was a writer and researcher for Fred Friendly, former President of CBS News. He was also a certified Emergency Medical Technician, served on the Columbia Area Volunteer Ambulance, and taught cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

President Obama nominated Chairman Genachowski in March 2009, and he was confirmed by the Senate on June 29, 2009

The Telecommunications Act of 1996, a comprehensive law overhauling regulation of the telecommunications industry, recognizes the importance of access to telecommunications for people with disabilities in the Information Age. 

Section 255 of the Act requires telecommunications products and services to be accessible to people with disabilities. This is required to the extent access is "readily achievable," meaning easily accomplishable, without much difficulty or expense. If manufacturers cannot make their products accessible then they must design products to be compatible with adaptive equipment used by people with disabilities, where readily achievable. What is "readily achievable" will be different for each manufacturer based on the costs of making products accessible or compatible and their resources.

Telecommunications Act of 1996

Telecommunications products covered include:

wired and wireless telecommunication devices, such as telephones (including pay phones and cellular phones), pagers, and fax machines

other products that have a telecommunication service capability, such as computers with modems

equipment that carriers use to provide services, such as a phone company’s switching equipment.

TCA, 1996 – What’s Covered

Was the first notable attempt by the United States Congress to regulate pornographic material on the Internet. In 1997, in the landmark cyber-law case of Reno v. ACLU, the United States Supreme Court struck the anti-indecency provisions of the Act.

As eventually passed by Congress, Title V affected the Internet (and online communications) in two significant ways. First, it attempted to regulate both indecency (when available to children) and obscenity in cyberspace. Second, Section 230 of the Act has been interpreted to say that operators of Internet services are not to be construed as publishers (and thus not legally liable for the words of third parties who use their services).

The Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA)

Requires that K-12 schools and libraries in the United States use Internet filters and implement other measures to protect children from harmful online content as a condition for the receipt of certain federal funding.

It was signed into law on December 21, 2000 and was found to be constitutional by the United States Supreme Court on June 23, 2003.

The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA)

MUCRAKING

Reform-minded journalists who wrote largely for popular magazines, continued a tradition of investigative journalism reporting, and emerged in the United States after 1900 and continued to be influential until World War I, when through a combination of advertising boycotts, dirty tricks and patriotism, the movement, associated with the Progressive Era in the United States, came to an end

The influence of the early muckrakers continued to inspire journalists and non-journalists alike long after the progressive era had ended. The journalism and long-form works of non-journalists which yielded important news and developments and was done in the spirit of reform

Print

Broadcast

Mass Media

Advertisement Driven!!!!

Liberal or Conservative?

Disney Inc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assets_owned_by_Disney

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Newspapers (local, regional national)

- USA Today & Wall Street Journal-

http://www.usatoday.com/-

- Atlanta Journal Constitution & Savannah Morning News

- http://savannahnow.com/-

- Statesboro Herald, Douglas Sentinel, Post Search Light, etc.

http://www.statesboroherald.com/-

http://www.thepostsearchlight.com/

Print

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Magazines/zgbs/magazines

Time

Newsweek

U.S. News and World Report

http://www.usnews.com/

Magazines

Foreign Policyhttp://www.foreignpolicy.com/

American Political Science Reviewhttps://www.apsanet.org/content_3222.cfm?CFID=26220058&CFTOKEN=80244780

http://www.amazon.com/Audacity-Hope-Thoughts-Reclaiming-American/dp/0307455874

Periodicals, Journals, and Books

Premium and Non-Premium

Television & Radio & Smart Technology & Internet

Cable & Satellite

BROADCAST

ABCNBCCBS

Affiliates

FOX

….but…………..

Non-Premium

PBS was founded on October 5, 1970, at which time it took over many of the functions of its predecessor, National Educational Television (NET), which later merged with station WNDT, Newark, New Jersey, to form WNET. In 1973, it merged with Educational Television Stations.

Unlike the model of America's commercial broadcasting television networks, in which affiliates give up portions of their local advertising airtime in exchange for network programming, PBS member stations pay fees for the shows acquired and distributed by the national organization.

http://www.pbs.org/

News Hour

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/

PBS

CNN

MSNBC

FOX News

C-SPAN I/II/III

-http://www.c-span.org

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PREMIUM

AMFM

I-PODSyou-tube

local/state

RADIO

FACEBOOKTWITTERTUMBLER

PANDORA

DROIDS, SMARTPHONES, I-PHONES

GPS

CYBER-WORLD

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