Exam #1

Question 1

Multimodal landscape

Answer 1

Today’s media environment requires media professionals to write well on different platforms with different writing styles

Question 2

Golden Mean

Answer 2

moral virtue is the middle ground between two extremes, therefore moderation is key. The proper way of behaving lies between doing too much and doing too little (Aristotle)

Question 3

Categorical imperative

Answer 3

what is right for one is right for all (Kant), we should all act according to the rules that we would want to see universally applied

Question 4

Utility

Answer 4

the greatest benefit for the greatest number, what will yield the greatest ratio of good to bad for general society (Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill)

Question 5

Veil of Ignorance

Answer 5

justice emerges when everyone is treated without social differentiations, all concerned parties are placed behind a virtual barrier where there are no roles/social differentiations

Question 6

Self-determination

Answer 6

do not treat people as a means to an end (this is associated with religious and social systems around the world) → love your neighbor as you love yourself

Question 7

The Potter Box

Answer 7

The Potter Box consists of the 5 following elements: Definition, values, principles, loyalties, and action. Definition means establishing the facts of the story, the situation as a whole and the issues arising as a result. Values means establishing what values are at play in affecting the situation and which hold more importance. Principles means applying a moral principle to the situation to see if from a specific angle. Loyalties means defining who the journalist should primarily be loyal to in this scenario. Finally, action means taking into account the other four factors and making a rational decision accordingly.

Question 8

Defamation

Answer 8

harm to one’s reputation

Question 9

Slander

Answer 9

spoken defamation

Question 10

Libel

Answer 10

defamation in printed or other tangible form (broadcast)

Question 11

Libel per se

Answer 11

words that are defamatory on one’s face (thief, liar)

Question 12

Libel per quod

Answer 12

innocent words that become defamatory depending on context and circumstances (“this professor loves children…”)

Question 13

SPJ Code of Ethics

Answer 13

The four elements that make up the SPJ Code of Ethics are: seek truth and report it, minimize harm, act independently, and be accountable/transparent. Seeking truth and reporting it means being honest, accurate, factual, fair, and authentic while giving a voice to the voiceless. Minimizing harm means balancing individuals’ privacy with the public’s right to know and showing compassion to those affected by media coverage. Acting independently means refusing gifts and favors from sources to remain ethical and avoid conflicts of interests. Finally, being accountable/transparent means acknowledging mistakes, explaining one’s ethical choices, and exposing unethical journalism.

Question 14

The elements a plaintiff must prove in a libel lawsuit

Answer 14

Publication → statements must be published
Identification → person must be identified in name, description, or picture
Defamation → statements hurt the person’s reputation
Injury → statement caused mental anguish, loss of income etc.
Falsity → statements are wrong or based on unverifiable facts
Fault → media is at fault through negligence
For public figures:
Malice → intent to harm

Question 15

Defenses against libel

Answer 15

Truth → if what is reported is true
Privilege → public’s right to know may be more important than an individual’s reputation
Fair comment/criticism → press’ freedom to publish editorials/opinion pieces

Question 16

AI-generated images and copyright

Answer 16

• If some portions of an artwork are created by AI, then they are not eligible for copyright, but the rest is.
• An AI generated image won first place in an art contest using Midjourney→ created controversy and posed ethical concerns
• “Copyright law only extends to human beings”
• Essential condition = human creativity
• Some AI tools were trained using human artistic works without the permission of their creators/artists
• Copyright = the “right of a man to the production of his own genius or intellect.” → only of a human
• Rulings were in favor of people who had a vision of their work and brought it to life using a camera → copyright does extend to photography
  -But a photo taken by a monkey doesn’t qualify for protection because an animal doesn’t have the intellect required
• Copyright is designed to encourage humans to create art, their property will be protected by the government

Question 17

What percent of Americans want news as part of their daily media consumption, according to the American Press Institute?

Answer 17

75%

Question 18

Poynter Institute’s Pyramid of Journalism Competence

Answer 18

Judgment = deciding what is important and interesting
Evidence = verifying information with multiple sources
Storytelling = transforming information into a narrative
Critical thinking = give context to facts + interpret information
Numeracy and data = reporters are watchdogs and analyze numbers
Technology = use it to better to their job and think about how people use media
audios/visuals (multimedia) = varied elements make better stories
Civics = knowledge about democracy/government create good questions and put information in right context
Culture = understanding diversity and different viewpoints (especially in local communities)
Mission and purpose = clear sense of the purpose of journalism and its relevance in society + ethics of journalism + knowledge of society/government/human rights

Question 19

Characteristics of news.

Answer 19

Timeliness (report on current information that is new to the public), impact/magnitude (choose stories that impact a lot of people), prominence (involving prominent individuals- like politicians or celebrities- that people care about), proximity (happening locally or with an emotional connection), unusualness (unexpected events are newsworthy), conflict (differing points of view and opinions for resolutions- can be a positive conflict)

Question 20

objectivity

Answer 20

Report actions, words, or situations without commenting on them (facts not opinions)
Journalists need to listen to all voices (not just the loudest) and especially on center views (not just the extremes) → but don’t give space for opinions that are clearly contradictory to facts
Important in public affairs, civic, journalism → to preserve democracy
Check one another on subconscious bias

Question 21

Reasons why news writing format includes shorter sentences and paragraphs

Answer 21

Abstractions obscure facts and confuse people (frustrate them and lose viewers/readers) → miss important info
Avoid confusion and frustration
Better readability and understanding
Keep audience engaged and informed (majority of audience = regular people)
Short sentence are proven to be more easily understood/readable
Journalists write for the eye and the ear (how the flow sounds)

Question 22

Issues of conflict of interest and ethics

Answer 22

Exists when journalists, their friend/relative, news organization might benefit from a story (or have participated in it) → compromises objectivity
Always disclose conflicts of interest to audience to remain transparent
Other examples: accepting gifts, trips, participating in news covered events, freelancing

Question 23

Plagiarism

Answer 23

Never acceptable in any circumstance → illegal
Includes falsifying quotes, fabricating sources, copying stories from other outlets

Question 24

Based on the Week 3 articles posted to Canvas about the development of ChatGPT and other services such as DALL-E 2 and Midjourney, briefly explain why AI (artificial intelligence) is raising concerns among 1) journalists, 2) artists and 3) academics. Cite at least two specific examples from the articles.

Answer 24

1. AI is getting good at writing fake news articles in news format + there has been issues of articles written by AI plagiarizing other journalists’ work (CNET, American tech news outlet which has now stopped its experiment → would claim the articles were fact-checked by humans)
2. AI can create artwork a lot faster than human artists can, which is a threat to the industry + AI is trained using real artists’ work without compensating them
3. AI can pass law and business tests at university level (Jon Choi’s law class at the University of Minnesota)

Question 25

From Professor Koenig’s Week 4 lecture material on media law, explain in your own words the major difference between the United States and the European Union in terms of who is responsible for commenters’ posts on websites.

Answer 25

The major difference between the United States and the European Union in terms of who is responsible for commenters’ posts on websites is that in the U.S. websites are not responsible for comments published on their platform while in the E.U. websites can be liable for what people post online. It is important to note however that the case laws in the U.S. are still developing (as shown in a recent case won against Yelp for not taking down its defamatory reviews) and rulings regarding this issue could change things in the future.