Roy L. Moore - Media Law and Ethics

MEDIA LAW AND ETHICS

FOURTH EDITION

This is the first textbook to explicitly integrate both media law and ethics within one volume. A truly comprehensive overview, it is a thoughtful introduction to media law principles and cases and the related ethical concerns relevant to the practice of professional communication. With special attention made to key cases and practices, authors Roy L. Moore and Michael D. Murray revisit the most timely and incendiary issues in modern American media.

Exploring where the law ends and ethics begin, each chapter includes a discussion of the ethical dimensions of a specific legal topic. The Fourth Edition includes new legal cases and emerging issues in media law and ethics as well as revised subject and case indices. In addition to a separate chapter devoted exclusively to media ethics by Michael Farrell, a new chapter on international and foreign law by Dr. Kyu Ho Youm has also been added. Resources on the companion website include updated PowerPoint presentations and a sample syllabus for instructors, and a glossary, chapter review questions, chapter quizzes, and all seven of the books original appendices for students.

An excellent integration of both law and ethics, this is the ideal text for undergraduate and graduate courses in media law and ethics.

Roy L. Moore is Professor of Journalism and Dean of the College of Mass Communication at Middle Tennessee State University. He holds a Ph.D. in Mass Communication from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a J.D. from the Georgia State University College of Law.

Michael D. Murray is University of Missouri Board of Curators Professor and Chair of the Faculty Senate and University Assembly at University of Missouri-St. Louis. He received his undergraduate degree from St. Louis University, and his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Routledge Communication Series

Jennings Bryant/Dolf Zillmann, Series Editors

Selected titles in Media Law include:

Moore/Maye/Collins: Advertising and Public Relations Law, Second Edition

Parkinson/Parkinson: Law for Advertising, Broadcasting, Journalism, and Public Relations: A Comprehensive Text for Students and Practitioners

Reynolds/Barnett: Communication and Law: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Research

Ross: Deciding Communication Law: Key Cases in Context

Russomanno: Defending the First: Commentary on First Amendment Issues and Cases

Russomanno: Speaking Our Minds: Conversations With the People Behind Landmark First Amendment Cases

Moore/ Murray: Media Law and Ethics

MEDIA LAW AND ETHICS

FOURTH EDITION

ROY L. MOORE MICHAEL D. MURRAY

Please visit the companion website at

www.routledge.com/cw/moore

Fourth edition published 2012
by Routledge

711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Simultaneously published in the UK
by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2012 Taylor & Francis

The right of the editors to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

First edition published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. 1994

Third edition published by Routledge 2008

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Moore, Roy L.

Media law and ethics / Roy L. Moore, Michael D. Murray. 4th ed.

p. cm. (Routledge communication series)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Mass mediaLaw and legislationUnited StatesCases. 2. Mass mediaMoral and ethical aspectsCase studies. I. Murray, Michael D. II. Title. KF2750.M662 2011

343.73099dc23

2011027522

ISBN: 978-0-415-89462-3 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-0-415-89463-0 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-0-203-14458-9 (ebk)

Dedication

To the memory of our parents and parents-in-law
Chester and Essie Moore,
Sam and Lila Vickers,
Marcella and Austin Murray,
and
Genevieve and Aloysius Ratermann.

Brief Contents

MIKE FARRELL

KYU HO YOUM

Contents

MIKE FARRELL

KYU HO YOUM

Preface to the Fourth Edition

Thank you for your interest in the new fourth and thoroughly revised edition of the first college textbook to explicitly address both mass media law and media ethics under one cover. The intersection of these two vital areas often leads to more questions, creates more potential problems, attracts the most interest and provides the best promise for examining important decision-making by the mass media.

In the preface of the first edition of this textbook, growing interest was noted in having both law and ethics addressed together in a single course at many departments and schools of mass communication and journalism. This awareness has evolved as a well-accepted pattern and a concept endorsed not only by major media programs but also by professional organizations. We have come to even better understand the symbiotic relationship and importance of having these two areas simultaneously addressed.

Public confidence in the mass media continues to erode as more journalists and media outlets have been exposed for unethical conduct. The emergence of non-traditional new media creates another level of interest in related ethical issues. As a small step in addressing these challenges, the new edition continues with the dominant themean interspersing of legal and ethical concepts and concerns at every step along the way and, whenever possible, includes discussion of current views regarding the disposition of key legal cases in an ethical context. With changes taking place quickly in the current mass media environment, we offer the reader a look at the regulation of new and emerging technologies, including vast expansion via the Internet. The change in title that we made in the last editionfrom Mass Communication to Mediacontinues to reflect an emphasis on and awareness of an ever-broadening field.

We have enlisted two colleagues, Dr. Michael Farrell and Dr. Kyu Ho Youm, to write highly specialized chapters devoted specifically to media ethics and international media law, respectively. Dr. Farrell has revised and expanded his chapter from the previous edition on media ethics, and Dr. Youm has contributed a new chapter on mass media international law.

Dr. Farrell, former managing editor of the Kentucky Post, is Associate Professor and Director of the First Amendment Center at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Youm is Professor and Jonathan Marshall First Amendment Chair in the School of Journalism at the University of Oregon. He is current president of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC).

When the first edition of this book was published, the international influences and the impact of the Internet on such areas as intellectual property rights and privacy as well as public and governmental concerns over broadcast indecency were not major topics of discussion. We now function in a media regulation environment in which these issues often dominate. Now, even newer technologies have emerged, including high-definition television and HD and satellite radio. These technologies, along with handheld devices such as GPS, iPods, PDAs, and cell phones have created regulatory challenges and expanded the outlets for information, talent and even controversy. Some of the programming of the so-called new media has been forced to switch or has voluntarily crossed over from the traditional media outlets. Telecommunications issues remain the most controversial and this new fourth edition of Media Law and Ethics examines the most contentious issues and avenues for legal experts and mass media practitioners to explore in this evolving landscape.