controls on media content Flashcards
Three areas of media that are regulated?
technology, economics, and content
Examples of media tech regulations?
frequencies, power, antenna height, signal quality
Examples of economic regulations in media?
ownership restrictions, production/syndication rules, network contracts
Examples of content regulation in media?
indecency, obscenity; children’s programming, political advertising
What are the types of media regulation?
free market “regulation”, gov’t regulation, and self-regulation
free market “regulation”
“regulation” here means that the problems faced in media outlets will be resolved within the marketplace by supply and demand
Role of citizen groups in free market regulation?
religious and parent associations as well as fact-checking websites/organizations affect content displayed
How else does the public affect regulation and media?
letter and social media campaigns, petitions
Role of supply and demand on free market “regulation”?
advertisers pull support for shows in which messages are displayed or said that those advertisers don’t agree with; example is what happened with Duck Dynasty
Basic definition of government regulation of media?
laws and regulations are enforced by gov’t agencies, like the FTC and FCC, as well as by Congress
basic definition of self-regulation in media?
regulation in which the industry itself establishes ethical guidelines + sanctions thru various orgs. in the industry
Gitlow v. New York
1925 SCOTUS case that defined what “Congress shall make no law” means; claimed it should be understood as “gov’t and its agencies”; that is, at all levels of gov’t
What does today’s view of “the press” include?
factually truthful advertising; forms of entertainment in film, TV, and radio; traditional forms of print media
What is considered high value speech?
political speech or debate
What is considered intermediate value speech?
advertising
What is considered low value speech?
obscenity, incitement
Restrictions on speech or the press are legal as long as those limits…
are applicable to everyone, are without political bias, serve a significant governmental interest, and leave ample alternative ways for communication to occur
What are the three categories in which gov’t regulates media?
regulation BEFORE distribution; regulation AFTER distribution; economic regulations
prior restraint
government restriction of speech before it is made
obscenity
related to speech/media that is offensive to accepted standards of decency or modesty
indecency
sexually oriented material that does NOT meet the Miller v. California definition of obscenity
copyright
the legal protection of a creator’s right to work
Copyright Act of 1976
a law that recognizes the rights of an individual creator (in any medium) from the time he or she created a work for the lifetime of that author plus 70 years
fair use regulations
provisions under which a person or company may use small portions of copyrighted work without asking permission
parody
a work that imitates another work for laughs in a way that comments on the original work
Miller v. California
1957 SCOTUS case that defined what obscene material is with the “Miller test”
Miller test
“The average person applying contemporary community standards would find the work, taken as a whole, to be of purient interest, patently offensive, and lacking serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.”
According to Miller v. California, who is “the average person”?
a person who is not considered a child; “normal adult, not highly sensitive or callous…or overly educated or uneducated”; not a person of weird or perverted taste
“contemporary community standards”
these really depend on the community b/c some can be more tolerant than others
“purient interest”
states that a “normal, healthy, or lustful interest in sex” is ok and does not fall under this qualification of the Miller test
what does purient mean?
basically perverted; a shameful or morbid interest in sex; if something falls under this, then NOT OK
“patently offensive”
anything that shows an excess of sexual detail
“taken as a whole”
if a portion of the work is in question but not the entire work, then the work is not legally obscene.
How does the FCC define indecent speech?
“material that, in context, depicts or describes sexual or excretory organs or activities in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards FOR THE BROADCAST MEDIUM.”
“safe harbors”
10 pm to 6 am; hours during which indecent programming may be allowed on broadcast stations
FCC v. Pacifica
SCOTUS case in which the court rules that the FCC can punish broadcast stations that aired indecent content during hours of the day when children are likely to be part of the audience; defined “safe harbors”
Why does the FCC treat broadcast differently than other media?
broadcast involves a scarce public source, and broadcast is uniquely pervasive
What makes the airwaves “scarce”?
there are only a limited number of frequencies that can be used to broadcast
Relationship b/w FCC and TV/radio stations?
FCC grants broadcast licenses to those stations; the stations must abide by FCC rules
What happens when a copyright expires?
the work that used to be protected by copyright law is now in the public domain
What are the 4 factors judges consider in fair use cases?
the purpose and character of your use; the nature of the copyrighted work; the amount and sustainability of portion taken; effect of the use upon the potential market
transformative
a work is said to be this way when use of copyrighted material presents the work in a way that adds interpretation to it so that some people might see it in a new light
Hustler Magazine v. Falwell
1988 SCOTUS case in the mag’s article clearly closely imitated the style of a famous liquor ad running in other magazines at the time; Court said that any reader would thus know Hustler’s speech was a deliberate parody
public figure
a person who is an elected or appointed official (a politician) or someone who has stepped (willingly or unwillingly) into a public role
private person
an individual who may be well known in the community but who has no authority or responsibility for the conduct of gov’t affairs and has not thrust himself or herself into the middle of an important public role
Two main areas of post-distribution regulation?
defamation and invasion of privacy
defamation
a highly disreputable or false statement about a living person or an organization that causes injury to the reputation that a substantial group of people hold for that person or entity
two types of defamation?
libel + slander
libel
written communication that is considered harmful to a person’s reputation
slander
spoken communication that is considered harmful to a person’s reputation
libel per se
written communication that is considered obvious libel
libel per quod
words, expressions, and statements that, at face value, seems to be innocent and not injurious but that may be considered libelous in their actual context
actual malice
reckless disregard for truth or knowledge of falsity
simple malice
hatred or ill will toward another person
simple negligence
lack of reasonable care
privacy
the right to be protected from unwanted intrusions or disclosures
false light
invading a person’s privacy by implying something untrue about him or her
appropriation
an invasion of privacy that takes place via the unauthorized use of a person’s name or likeness in an advertisement, poster, public relations promotion, or other commercial context
intrusion
an invasion of privacy that takes place when a person or organization intentionally invades a person’s solitude, private space, or affairs
public disclosure
an invasion of privacy that occurs when truthful information concerning the private life of a person (which would be highly offensive to a reasonable person and is not of legitimate public concern) is revealed by a media source
Commentary videos and fair use
if the video is transformative enough and its purpose is distinct enough from the original work, then the work is likely to be considered “fair use” and not in violation of copyright laws
“Roasting” + defamation
if the roasted is invited, then it is difficult to prove defamation since the subject of the joke wanted it; if the roasting resulted in changes, then easier to prove defamation
New York Times v. Sullivan
1964 SCOTUS case
What is “malice”?
knowing falsehood or having serious doubts about the truth of a given statement before publication/broadcast
Defense in a defamation case
the statement must be false; malice must be intended; the case must be brought within the statutes of limitation (1-3 years); must have no proof of consent to speech
What does invasion of privacy involve?
the disclosure of private facts; intrusion of seclusion/solitude; publicity that places individuals in a false light; appropriation of name or likeness for commercial purposes or advantage
For an incident to be deemed invasion of privacy, what must be true?
the claims must be highly offensive, not newsworthy/matter of public significance, and must be truly private
Digital Millenium Copyright Act
aka DMCA; law passed in 1998 that implements the digital copyright protections as stated in the 1996 World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
Section 512
protects platforms from cases of copyright infringement if derived from the generated content of the users; “notification” and “take down” provisions
“notification” and “take down” provisions?
platforms must notify the given user of copyright infringement and if found in violation, must take down the offending content
Section 230 of the 1996 Communications + Decency Act
grants website “platforms” immunity against all non-copyright legal claims
economic regulations
rules set by the government about how firms are allowed to compete with one another; basically what constitutes as “fair play” when it comes to doing business in the media industry
monopoly
control of the market by a single firm
oligopoly
control of the market by a select few firms
antitrust policies
policies put in place to maintain competition in the U.S. economy, carried out through the passing of laws, thru enforcement of the laws by the Department of Justice + state attorneys general, and thru federal court decisions that determine how far the gov’t ought to go in encouraging competition + forcing companies to break themselves into a number of smaller companies
By definition, what is the FTC?
Federal Trade Commission; a federal agency whose mission is to ensure that the nation’s markets function competitively
What is included in what the FTC covers?
coverage includes any mass media (print or electronic), as long as the issue involved is related to the smooth functioning of the media marketplace and consumer protection in that sphere
By definition, what is the FCC?
Federal Communications Commission; a federal agency mandated by Congress to govern interstate and international communication by TV, radio, wire, satellite, and cable
If advertising is found to be misleading, what are three remedies that the FTC can demand?
stop the advertising; require disclosures of more facts; initiate corrective advertising
How has media regulation phased in the direction of deregulation?
with the flurry of M&A deals within the media industry; implementing fin-syn rules
What are fin-syn rules?
aka financial interest and syndication rules; rules restricting the ability of the big three broadcast networks (ABC, NBC, and CBS) to acquire ownership and distribution rights
1996 Telecommunications Act
emphasized deregulation of the media industries; eliminated long-standing restriction of allowing one company to own 2 TV stations in the same market
localism
values sharing of power among many
efficiency
values concentration of power in hands of those who can make decisions quickly
self-regulation regimes
codes + agreements among companies in an industry to ensure that employees carry out their work in what industry officials agree is an ethical manner
advocacy organizations
collections of people who work to change the nature of certain kinds of mass media materials
editorial standards
standards established by media organizations as a form of self-regulation
policy books
guidelines for fairness, accuracy, and appropriateness of station content and the like adopted by media organizations in the interest of self-regulation
operating policies
policies, most often used by print media orgs., that spell out guidelines for everyday operations, such as conflicts of interest, acceptable advertising content, boundaries of deceptive info-gathering practices, payment to sources for news stories, etc.
editorial policies
policies, most often used by print media orgs., that identify company positions on specific issues, such as which presidential candidate the paper supports and whether the paper is in support of certain governmental policies
ombudperson
an individual who is hired by a media organization to deal with readers, viewers, or listeners who have a complaint to report or an issue to discuss
journalism reviews
publications that report on and analyze examples of ethical and unethical journalism
code of ethics
a formal list of guidelines and standards designed to establish standards of professionalism within an industry
ethics
a system of principles about what is right that guides a person’s actions
values
those things that reflect our presuppositions about social life and human nature
ideals
notions of excellence or goals that are thought to bring about greater harmony to ourselves and others
principles
those guidelines we derive from values and ideal that are precursors to codified rules
what does localism entail?
control of important institutions should be spread out, with considerable power at the local level b/c it’s closest to the individuals and best serves society; each person is a rational being with an equal say
Relationship b/w localism and mass media?
localism believes media voices should be kept local to best serve public; regulations based on scarcity of frequencies, localism, public interest and promotion of diversity
what does efficiency entail?
it pushes towards concentration, consolidation, and centralization; increased barriers to entry, which leads to small companies going out of business or being bought out by conglomerates
horizontal merger
merger in which a media company buys another company of the same type
vertical merger
merger in which a media company buys its suppliers and/or distributors to integrate production and distribution in-house
conglomerate merger
combination of media companies and/or non-media businesses
U.S. v. Paramount
1948 SCOTUS case regarding vertical integration that forced the major Hollywood film studios to divest movie theaters and changed the economic systems of the movie business at the time
