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- Contemporary Media
- Media Policy and Regulation
- Regulations
- policies
- public frameworks for structuring and regulating media so they contribute to public good
- laws
- binding rules passed by legislatures, enforced by the executive power, and adjudicated by courts
- standards
- agreements about technical characteristics of communication systems
- self-regulation
- codes and practices, developed by the communication industry, to monitor and control the media’s performance
- Communication Policies
- free speech
- privacy
- intellectual property
- competition
- diversity
- access
- spectrum allocation
- technical standards
- Freedom of Speech
- US Constitution as the basis for federal law
- First Amendment to the Constitution
- guarantees freedom of speech and the press
- content free from government restriction
- preserves a marketplace of ideas
- there are many exceptions to freedom of speech…
- Defamation
- untrue declarations about private citizens
- slander: spoken
- libel: written
- damages reputation of person being defamed
- actual malice must be proven against public figures
- law balances to ensure watchdog role of the press
- allow criticism of public figures
- Political Speech
- US print does not have to offer “right of reply”
- paid political speech can be exploited by wealthy candidates
- broadcasting has to offer equal access
- Fairness Doctrine
- broadcasters must schedule programming on controversial issues
- broadcasters must ensure the expression of opposing views
- affirmed by Red Lion Broadcasting v. FCC (1969)
- struck down by Supreme Court (1987)
- Obscenity
- material where the dominant theme taken as a whole appeals to prurient interest
- defined by contemporary community standards as regarded by the average person as prurient
- Roth v. United States (1957)
- the work must lack a serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value
- Miller v. California (1974)
- child pornography is not protected speech due to exploitation of children, who cannot grant consent
- Indecency
- graphic language that pertains to sexual or excretory organs or activities
- pertains specifically to broadcasting
- applies only when children are likely to be in the audience
- safe harbor for “unfettered speech,” usually 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM
- Censorship
- formal restriction of media or speech content by government, political, or religious authorities
- First Amendment prohibits government prior-restraint in terms of censorship
- FCC and federal authorities can only respond after the fact
- Self-Censorship
- YouTube “screens” submissions and removes pornography
- Facebook bans nudity
- Television violence governed by V-Chip and TV ratings
- Commercial Speech
- less protected than noncommercial speech
- not for misleading commercial speech
- not for commercial speech that proposes illegal action
- Federal Trade Commission intervenes if…
- message is likely to mislead the consumer
- consumer is acting reasonably
- omission, falsehood, representation is likely to affect purchasing decision
- Privacy
- the right to avoid unwanted intrusions or disclosure
- government snooping
- commercial snooping
- Government Snooping
- governed by Fourth Amendment
- “right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unwarranted search and seizures”
- Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 1986
- wiretap protections to email, teleconferences, and other new media
- USA PATRIOT Act, 2001
- reduced standard for probable cause
- judge’s decision that provisional evidence of criminal violation or national security danger justifies a wiretap
- National Security Agency engaged in massive global snooping
- collecting telephone logs, social media posts, private telephone conversations
- Commercial Snooping
- private companies gather and sell information about individuals
- credit bureaus gather credit information
- data brokers compile and resell credit card transaction data for market research
- data is often used by political campaigns to target likely voters
- regulation attempts
- Data Quality Act: scrutiny of government data for accuracy
- Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act: transmission of health data
- Internet
- behavioral tracking and Do Not Track
- Facebook functions as if “users have no privacy”
- Intellectual Property
- a creative work of art, writing, film, or software that belongs to a legally protected owner
- patent
- exclusive right, granted to an inventor, to make, use, sell an invention for 20 years
- protects against reverse engineering
- copyright
- legal right to control intellectual property
- legal privilege to use, sell, or license creative works
- “promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts” (1791)
- Copyright Term Extension Act extended copyright to life of the author plus 70 years
- digital technologies make it easy to duplicate copyrighted material
- Fair Use
- users of creative works are entitled reasonable access to the works
- permits users limited copying of copyrighted works for academic, artistic, or personal use
- Home Recording Act, 1991
- permits consumers to copy records or tapes for noncommercial use
- does not apply to computer software
- does not apply to Internet file sharing
- Competition and Ownership
- monopoly is a single company controlling an industry
- oligopoly is a few companies dominate an industry
- Sherman Antitrust Act prohibits monopolies and the restraint of free trade
- vertical integration is when a company with the same owner controls different aspects of a business within the same industry
- horizontal integration is the concentration of ownership by acquiring companies in the same business
- cross-ownership is when one firm owns different media outlets in the same area
- TV-newspapers cross ownership
- local management agreements allow station owners to manage multiple stations
- newspapers can merge business operations under a joint operating agreement to save on operating costs
- Universal Service
- the principle that everyone should have access to basic telecommunication services
- guarantees access to wireline telephone service
- new challenge to making Internet service universal to close digital divide
- E-rate subsidies to fund Internet connections in schools and at libraries
- Connect American Fund extends Internet broadband access to rural areas
- FCC spur investment in Internet infrastructure and sets requirements for low-cost broadband access
- Spectrum Allocation
- licenses required for electromagnetic spectrum
- prevent interference
- radio and television broadcasts
- government regulators awards and renews licenses, legal permission to operate a transmitter
- regulated because of scarcity: a small number of stations and the cost of entry to broadcasting is high
- FCC tries to promote localism by giving licenses to stations in cities of a variety of sizes
- with move to digital, spectrum reallocated from broadcasting to mobile communications
- Technical Standards
- technical oversight for electronic media
- technological standards necessary for mass production to begin
- lack of agreement can delay technological progress
- standards bodies
- professional associations and ratified by the government, e.g. Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers
- proprietary standards, e.g. Microsoft Windows
- FCC working groups, e.g. Advanced Television Systems Committee
- international bodies, e.g. International Telecommunications Union
- Federal Regulation and Policy Making
- laws proposed by executive branch or by Congress
- executive branch regulatory agencies
- congressional subcommittees
- full House of Representatives and Senate
- proposed legislation goes up for vote
- either defeated or passed by Congress
- either signed or vetoed by President
- executive branch implements the laws
- judicial branch—federal district courts or Supreme Court—interprets the constitutionality of the law
- Federal Communications Commission
- regulates broadcasting, satellite, cable TV, and telecommunications
- licenses and oversees operations of broadcast stations
- FCC shifted away from direct regulation towards oversight of competition
- FCC is commonly attuned to interest of the industry, captured by the industry they regulate
- Department of Commerce
- established the National Telecommunications and Information Administration
- produced a national broadband map to measure level of service in local communities
- represents the United States in international bodies
- active in multilateral trade negotiations
- Federal Trade Commission
- regulatory agency charged with domestic trade policy
- monitors deceptive advertising
- investigates possible cases of restraint of trade
- scrutinizes privacy policies and practices by online companies
- Justice Department
- enforces general laws that apply to communications
- enforces Sherman Antitrust Act
- initiated actions that broke up AT&T
- The Courts
- interprets challenges to laws written by Congress and rules made by FCC
- validates consistency with US Constitution
- Supreme Court is the ultimate court of appeals of decisions by lower courts
- US Congress
- writes and rewrites communication laws of the land
- updated the 1934 Communications Act with 1996 Telecommunications Act
- governed competition within and across media and telecommunications industries
- relaxed ownership restrictions
- regulated violent and sexual content on TV
- State and Local Regulation
- municipalities involved in the regulation of telecommunications
- state-level public utility commissions regulate local and regional telephone companies’ rates
- most states have deregulated telecommunications
- municipal governments do not govern Internet
- Lobbies
- industry and public interest groups lobby to influence proposed legislation
- companies lobby to permit more concentration of ownership and cross-ownership of local media
- top lobbyists
- Verizon
- AT&T
- National Cable and Telecommunications Association
- National Association of Broadcasters
- big technology companies
- public interest lobbyists
- American Association of Retired Persons
- Benton Foundation
- advocate for universal, low-cost “lifeline” local telephone service
- Fourth Estate
- mass media report on policy-making issues of interest to general public
- journalists inform public of telecommunications issues
- trade journalists cover more esoteric issues with a pro-industry slant
- mass media might sometimes act as lobbyists
- watchdogs
- Fairness in Accuracy in Reporting
- Accuracy in Media