Media and Public Policy

Where to find the readings:

= Available for purchase at Labyrinth Books and for free at Stokes Library
= World Wide Web. (Click on the link on the reading list.)
= Electronic Reserve/Blackboard course documents/Lexis

February 6. Journalism: crisis and opportunity

Project for Excellence in Journalism, "The State of the News Media: 2012." Read the Overview and either "Mobile Devices and News Consumption" or "What Facebook and Twitter Mean for News."
Steven Waldman et al., The Information Needs of Communities: The Changing Media Landscape in a Broadband Age (Washington: Federal Communications Commission, 2011), 8-25 (Part I of the "Overview.")
Paul Starr, " An Unexpected Crisis: The News Media in Post-Industrial Democracies" in John Lloyd and Janice Winter (eds.), Media, Politics and the Public (Stockholm: Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation, 2011), 21-29.
Thomas E. Patterson, "Young People and News" Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy, July 2007.

February 13. The constitutional foundations and limits of press freedom

Paul Starr, The Creation of the Media: Political Origins of Modern Communications (New York: Basic Books, 2004), Introduction, Chs. 1-2, 8.
Randall Bezanson, How Free Can the Press Be? (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2003), 5-57 (New York Times v. United States [1971; "Pentagon Papers" case]).
Kent Middleton et al., The Law of Public Communication, 8th ed. 2012 Update (Boston: Pearson, 2011), Ch. 2.


Cases to be assigned for individual presentation
Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47 (1919).
Abrams et al. v. United States, 250 U.S. 616 (1919).
Near v. Minnesota 283 U.S. 697 (1931).

February 20. Democracy, diversity, and power in the age of the mass media

Starr, The Creation of the Media, Chs. 3-5, 7, 12.
Bezanson, How Free Can the Press Be?, 58-82 (Miami Herald v. Tornillo [1971]).
Ben Compaine, "Domination Fantasies: Does Rupert Murdoch control the media? Does anyone?" Reason Magazine (January 2004).
Mark Lloyd and Phil Napoli, Local Media Diversity Matters: Measure Media Diversity According to Democratic Values, Not Market Values (Washington, D.C.: Center for American Progress, 2007), Executive Summary, 1-3.
Case to be assigned for individual presentation
Associated Press v. United States, 326 U.S. 1 (1945).
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission 558 U.S. 310 (2010).

February 27. Communications regulation: movies, radio, and television

Starr, The Creation of the Media, Chs. 9-11.
Newton N. Minow and Craig L. Lamay, Abandoned in the Wasteland: Children, Television, and the First Amendment (Hill and Wang, 1995), Introduction, Ch. 1.
Middleton et al., The Law of Public Communication, "Regulation of Public Issue Programming: The Fairness Doctrine" in Ch. 7.


Cases to be assigned for presentation
Red Lion Broadcasting v. FCC , 395 U.S. 367 (1969).
Miller v. California 413 U.S. 15(1973).
FCC v. Pacifica Foundation [George Carlin case] 438 U.S. 726 (1978).

March 6. Intellectual property and cultural freedom

Lawrence Lessig, Free Culture (Penguin, 2004), preface, Chs. 1-5, 7-10, afterword.


Watch Lessig's crash course in the "read-write" internet (9:24), YouTube.

Patrick Ross, "Artists and Culture: Empowering the Former to Foster the Latter," Progress and Freedom Foundation, Release 13.6 (February 2006).


Cases to be assigned for individual presentation
Universal City Studios, Inc. et al. v. Sony Corporation of America Inc. ["Betamax Case"] 464 US 417 (1984).
Eldred v. Ashcroft 537 U.S. 186 (2003).
MGM Studio v. Grokster 545 US(2005).

March 13. Economics, technology, and the reshaping of the media

James Hamilton, All the News That's Fit to Sell (Princeton University Press, 2004), 1-36.
Yochai Benkler, The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom (Yale University Press, 2006), 1-28 [skim], 29-90, 176-272.

Spring break

March 27. New Media, New Choices

Eli Pariser, The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You (New York: Penguin Press, 2011), Introduction (1-20), Ch. 2 (47-76).
Lawrence Lessig, Code Version 2.0, Chs. 1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 12. 3-168, 233-275. Also available in printed form:(New York: Basic Books, 2006).

Cases to be assigned for individual presentation:
Reno v. ACLU, 521 U.S. 844 (1997).
ACLU v Mukasey (2008) [originally ACLU v. Gonzales].

April 3. The limits of media freedom (1): libel and privacy

Trolls, Privacy and Free Speech: the case of Violentacrez.
Adrian Chen, “Unmasking Reddit’s Violentacrez, the Biggest Troll on the Web,” Gawker, October 12, 2012.
Amanda Marcotte, “Why Shutting Down Non-Consensual Porn Matters,” Raw Story, October 12, 2012.
Maia Szalavitz, “How to Starve the Trolls,” Time, October 19, 2012.
Lindsay Beyerstein, "Michael Brutsch, Violentacrez, and Online Pseudonyms," In These Times, October 16, 2012.

Bezanson, How Free Can the Press Be?, 163-208 (Bartnicki v. Vopper [2001]); 209-29 (Howard v. Des Moines Register & Tribune Co. [1989]).
Kent Middleton et al., The Law of Public Communication, Ch. 4 (Libel) and Ch. 5 (Privacy and Personal Security).
Cases to be assigned for individual presentation
Sullivan v. New York Times376 U.S. 254 (1964).
Time v. Hill 385 U.S. 374. (1966).

April 10. The limits of media freedom (2): press privilege, press responsibility

Walter Lippmann, "Journalism and the Higher Law" and "What Modern Liberty Means" in Lippmann, Liberty and the News (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Howe,1920), 3-68.
Yochai Benkler, "The Real Significance of Wikileaks," The American Prospect May 30, 2011.
Kent Middleton et al., The Law of Public Communication, Ch. 11 (Protection of News Sources, Notes, and Recordings).


Case to be assigned for individual presentation
Branzburg v. Hayes U.S. 665 (1972).
Food Lion v. ABC 887 F. Supp. 811 (1999).

April 17. Media freedom and globalization

Tyler Cowen, Creative Destruction: How Globalization is Changing the World's Cultures (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002), Chs. 1, 4, and 6.
Lee C. Bollinger, Uninhibited, Robust, and Wide-Open: A Free Press for a New Century, 87-106; and
Lee C. Bollinger, "News for the World," Columbia Journalism Review (July-August 2011).

Cases to be assigned for individual presentation:
Supreme Court of Canada, Quan v. Cusson, 2009 SCC 62 (2009). For background, see Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, "Analysis of the Defamation Case Decisions, December 22, 2009."
Ronald J. Krotoszynski, Jr. The First Amendment in Cross-Cultural Perspective: A Comparative Legal Analysis of the Freedom of Speech (New York : New York University Press, 2006), Ch. 4 [Germany].
Krotoszynski, The First Amendment in Cross-Cultural Perspective, Ch. 5 [Japan].

April 24. The future of journalism, local news, and the role of government

Leonard Downie, Jr. and Michael Schudson, "The Reconstruction of American Journalism," Columbia Journalism Review , October 19, 2009. (Check out responses under "First Read" as well as the Downie-Schudson report.
Marjorie Heins and Mark N. Cooper, "The Legal and Social Bases of Localism are Stronger than Ever," 31-38 in Mark N. Cooper, ed., The Case Against Media Consolidation: Evidence on Concentration, Localism, and Diversity
Elizabeth James, "Big Bird to the Rescue?" Columbia Journalism Review July-August 2011.
Cases to be assigned for individual presentation:
Federal Communications Commission, "FCC Adopts Revision To Newspaper/Broadcast Cross-Ownership Rule," December 18, 2007. Read statement by FCC Chairman Martin and dissent by Commissioner Copps. See also: "Court Overturns F.C.C. Cross-Ownership Rule," New York Times, July 7, 2011.



Second half of class: Student presentations

May 1.

Student Presentations