Online Resources
Cyberspace Law Seminar 2008 - Law of Electronic Media 2007, 2008
NOTE: This page was first created for the Law of Electronic Media 2007 class (LEM07), and uploaded on August 12, 2007. On January 14, 2008, the process began of adding some resources more directly applicable to the Cyberspace Law Seminar 2008 (CLS08).
It will be added to and revised from time to time -- primarily in the "Articles" sections with articles thought to be of relevance to topics covered in the course. On the other hand, for purposes of LEM08 -- providing you an overview, and illustrations of the current applications of what we'll be studying -- the articles from last year are perfectly adequate and relevant.
The list of organizations and publications,
below, is intended as no more than a small sampling of the range of organizations,
publications and other sites that one might list. (Aside from what would
have been a very long list of Web sites maintained by various media outlets
themselves, nothing has been deliberately omitted for reasons other than
considerations of space.) It is recommended that, at a minimum, you do
a quick click on each site to get a sense of the variety of institutions
and sources of information -- and potential employers -- available to you,
both this semester and once you are in practice. -- N.J. - Last updated
20071030, 20080114, 20080715, 20080822, 20080824, 20080827, 20080831
Illustrative, Relevant
Current News Articles
(for LEM08)
What is "the media"?/First Amendment. Michiko Kakutani, "Is Jon Stewart the Most Trusted Man in America," New York Times, August 15, 2008. Andy Hamilton, "Athletes' Photographs Under Review; Expert Talked to Coaches About Sites' Dangers," Iowa City Press-Citizen, August 22, 2007, p. A1; Scott Dochterman, "A Question of Judgment; Douglas' Facebook Photos Strike Nerve with Iowa Staff," The Gazette, August 22, 2007, p. C1 [Note: The Gazette requires (free) account; use drop down menus on Web page to go to date and page specified]. Tom Ashbrook, "9/11, Fear, and Politics," On Point, WBUR, September 10, 2007; Bill Carter, "NBC to Offer Downloads of Its Shows," New York Times, September 20, 2007.
Internet as Media.Brian Stelter, "Web Audience for [Olympic] Games Soars for NBC and Yahoo,"New York Times, August 24, 2008 ("the extent to which the Internet served as a supplement to television was unprecedented"). Jonathan D. Glater, "Welcome, Freshmen. Have an iPod," New York Times, August 20, 2008. Mattathias Schwartz, "The Trolls Among Us," New York Times Magazine, August 3, 2008. Kevin Kelly, "Predicting the Next 5000 Days of the Web," TED, December 2007.
Media's Impact. Lee Rood, "Does Muting Trouble Give Athletes Unfair Edge?; Defense Lawyers Say They Try to Keep Allegations Out of the Media, but Victim Advocates Say Transparency Would level the Playing Field," Des Moines Register, August 31, 2008, p. A1 ("At a time when college football programs like those at the University of Iowa and Penn State are working to put public, off-the-field struggles behind them, others are working behind the scenes to make sure new allegations involving athletes and criminal behavior never make news."). CBS News/60 Minutes, "Dennis Quaid Recounts Twins' Drug Ordeal; Actor Tells 60 Minutes' Steve Kroft Medical Errors Kill Thousands," August 24, 2008, pp. 2. 4 ("'These mistakes that occurred to us are not unique. And they're not unique even to Cedars. They happen in every hospital, in every state in this country. And 100,000 people, that I've come to find out, there's 100,000 people a year are killed every year in hospitals by a medical mistakes,' he [Dennis Quaid] says. . . . A number of things have happened since 60 Minutes first aired this story: Dennis Quaid told his story to Congress, and Baxter International withdrew all of its Heparin products from the market because of contamination issues."). Christine Ollivier, "France bans broadcast of TV shows for babies," Associated Press [Solon.com/Wires], August 20, 2008. ("France's broadcast authority has banned French channels from marketing TV shows to children under 3 years old . . .. It also orders French cable operators . . . to broadcast warning messages to parents. . . .: 'Watching television can slow the development of children under 3, even when it involves channels aimed specifically at them.' . . . [I]nteraction with other people is crucial to early child development. 'Television viewing hurts the development of children . . . encouraging passivity, slow language acquisition, over-excitedness, troubles with sleep and concentration as well as dependence on screens,' the ruling said.")
International/Comparative Media Law. Associated Press, "iTunes Blocked in China," New York Times, August 22, 2008, 8:48 a.m. ET. "Afghan MPs pass new mass media law; The BBC World Service Trust has played a crucial role in the debate about Afghanistan's new mass media law," BBC World Service Trust, June 21, 2007; K.C. Jones, "Yahoo Seeks Dismissal Of Lawsuit Alleging It Helped China Torture, Jail Dissident; Yahoo insists it's bound by Chinese law, not U.S. law, when it does business in China," InformationWeek, August 28, 2007 05:29 PM.
Political Speech. Paul Kane, "Craig Considers Remaining in Senate During Legal Battle," Washington Post, September 5, 2007; audio of Senator Larry Craig's cell phone conversation with lawyer Billy Martin regarding statement (provided by Roll Call on its site). Dan Balz and Michael D. Shear, "Fred Thompson Makes a Late-Night Entry,"Washington Post, September 6, 2007. Periscope, "The Oprah Ticket; The Most Powerful Woman in Show Business is About to Do Barack Obama a Big Favor," Newsweek, September 10, 2007. Eric Pfanner, "Britain's Labor Party Hires Agency That Aided Thatcher's Rise,"New York Times, October 2, 2007; Brian Stelter, "The Colbert Nation Quickly Colonizes Facebook," New York Times, October 29, 2007; Katharine Q. Seelye, "Horserace Prevails in Campaign Reporting," New York Times, October 29, 2007.
FCC. Linda Moss, "Adelstein: Digital Transition Could Spark ‘Tsunami of Consumer Complaints;’ FCC Member Calls for Digital-TV-Conversion Task Force; Criticizes Verizon Waiver," Multichannel News, July 31, 2007, 10:23:00 PM.; Kim Hart, "FCC Tells Sprint to Speed Rerouting From Public-Safety Airwaves," Washington Post, September 12, 2007; and see "Cable," below.
Defamation. Mike Chasar, "'My father's fondest dream;' Setting the record straight on Frank Marshall Davis," Iowa City Press-Citizen, August 31, 2008, p. A9 (Chasar's interview with the son of Marshall Davis, Mike, who says, "[AIM (Accuracy in Media's) Cliff] Kincaid also absurdly claimed that my father's 'values, passed on to Obama, were those of a communist agent who pledged allegiance to Stalin.' I knew I needed to immerse myself in this fight to defend my family honor. From my background as an Intelligence Officer, I could see him mimicking a full-blown Soviet KGB 'active measures' disinformation campaign.")
Privacy; State Secrets. Erin Jordan, "U of I lets employees hold back numbers, addresses," Des Moines Register, August 24, 2008 ("University of Iowa faculty and staff can now keep private their home addresses and phone numbers as public employees because President Sally Mason recently reversed a long-held policy. The change shows the tug-of-war between protecting people's privacy and providing access to public employees, such as teachers and lawmakers."). Clark Kauffman, "Medical privacy law fails to stop snooping," Des Moines Register, August 17, 2008; Clark Kauffman, "Iowans fired for alleged privacy breaches," Des Moines Register, August 17, 2008. Editorial, "Sense on Secrecy; A court weighs government's needs and Americans' rights,"Washington Post, August 15, 2007, p. A10; Eric Lichtblau, "Role of Telecom Firms in Wiretaps Is Confirmed," New York Times, August 24, 2007; Eric Lichtblau, "F.B.I. Dana Mining Reached Beyond Initial Targets," New York Times, September 9, 2007.
Cable. Stephen Labaton, "F.C.C. Set to End Sole Cable Deals for Apartments," New York Times, October 29, 2007.
Journalism Law: Confidentiality. Associated Press, "FBI: Phone record seizure was miscommunication," Washington Post, August 26, 2008, 10:46 a.m. ("The FBI did not abuse its authority when it seized the phone records of two journalists, [from the New York Times and Washington Post] according to the bureau's top lawyer . . .."). CBS News/60 Minutes, "The Killings In Haditha; Marine Tells 60 Minutes He's Sorry Iraqi Civilians Were Killed, But Insists He Made Right Decision," August 24, 2008, p. 6 ("The court martial of Frank Wuterich has been held up for eight months because of this interview. Military prosecutors subpoenaed the tapes of the entire interview, including portions that were not broadcast. CBS News is contesting that in court.").
Copyright. Peter Whoriskey, "Giant of Internet Radio Nears Its 'Last Stand;' Pandora, Other Webcasters Struggle Under High Song Fees," Washington Post, August 16, 2008, p. D1; Larry Neumeister, "YouTube Seeks to Depose Stewart, Colbert," Associated Press [WTOPNews.com], August 14, 2007 - 9:57pm.
Non-Political Speech. Seth Schiesel, "Courts Block Laws on Video Game Violence," New York Times, August 21, 2007; Edward Wyatt, "New Mexico Looks Again at Show's Use of Children," New York Times, August 24, 2007; Rita K. Farrell, "CBS Appeals Punishment for Super Bowl Incident," New York Times, September 12, 2007.
Media Ownership ("corporate censorship"). John Nichols, "AT&T Censors Criticism of Bush," The Nation, August 10, 2007 [CommonDreams.org News Center]; Adam Liptak, "Verizon Reverses Itself on Abortion Messages," New York Times, September 28, 2007; Stephen Labaton, "Plan Would Ease Limits on Media Owners," New York Times, October 18, 2007; Al Kamen, "FEMA Meets the Press, Which Happens to Be . . . FEMA," Washington Post, October 26, 2007.
General Semantics. Wendell
Johnson, "The Communication Process and General Semantic Principles";
Wendell
Johnson, "Verbal Cocoons" from People in Quandaries; Nicholas
Johnson, "Searching for the Right Word: The Language of Heterosexual Relationships"