Media Law and Ethics

Student Learning Outcomes, Goals, Objectives:

Students successfully completing this course will be able to:

• Demonstrate an understanding of the relevant Constitutional Freedoms, legal issues and ethical principles of mass communication.
• Apply legal rules to factual scenarios.
• Argue a legal issue within a structured setting.
• Identify the five freedoms outlined in the First Amendment and state their importance in a democracy.
• Understand the importance of truth, accuracy and fairness in advancing democratic values.
• Distinguish expression that is and is not protected by the First Amendment.
• Apply major legal principles associated with freedom of expression to media issues.
• Describe the role of professional ethics codes and their relationship to ethical ways of reasoning and decision-making.
• Identify and analyze ethical issues involved in case studies and explain the philosophical and professional considerations that underpin the analysis.
• Apply ethical principles to contemporary issues and to one’s own practice of a professional discipline.
• Recognize how judicial values are linked to the professional lives of journalists and the free-expression rights of citizens.
• Summarize the legal foundation for freedom of speech and press in America.
• Critically assess how the Supreme Court’s decisions impact everyday lives of Americans.
• Distinguish between the areas of speech that are protected by the First Amendment.
• Explain how ethical values are linked to the professional lives of print/online journalists, broadcasters, cinema and public relations professionals.
• Create a legal argument based on First Amendment theories and cases.
• Emphasize the importance of freedom of expression as protected by the First Amendment.
• Examine the legal issues and responsibilities relevant to print/online journalism, broadcasting, cinema, public relations and other media.
• Analyze the role of courts in impacting political policy, media regulation and public life.
• Apply legal and ethical principles to contemporary issues.
• Consider the ethical issues and ways of thinking involved in the practices of print/online journalism, broadcasting, cinema, public relations, and other media.
• Examine the legal, moral and social foundations pertinent to ethical decision making in actual cases related to all areas of communications.

Course Grading Information:

Activity/Performance Measure	Percentage/Points
One (1) written legal analysis	Not specified.
Two (2) oral arguments	Not specified.
Four (4) reflection papers on films	Not specified.
Five (5) in-person quizzes	Not specified.
One (1) final exam	Not specified.

Assignments that are submitted late will be penalized one full letter grade (10 points) for every 12 hours the assignment is not submitted. For in-person assignments, tardiness or no shows will result in a 20-point penalty.

Grading Scale

Percentage	Letter Grade
97-100%	A+
93-96%	A
90-92%	A-
87-89%	B+
83-86%	B
80-82%	B-
77-79%	C+
73-76%	C
70-72%	C-
67-69%	D+
63-66%	D
60-62%	D-
0-59%	F

Grades will be rounded up to the nearest whole number. For example, a 72.5 will be rounded up to 73, resulting in a C.

For this class to count towards the MST major, students must receive a grade of C or better.

Students should be aware that their grade on Canvas may not represent their current grade in the course. Canvas may not accurately weight the various grades and students should reach out to the professor for an approximation of their current grade.

Attendance/Participation:

Students are permitted three absences from in-person lectures, for any reason, during the semester. Additional absences will be excused on a case-by-case basis in extraordinary circumstances including, but not limited to, prolonged illness or extended leave due to a family emergency.

If a student requests additional absences, the student may be required to explain their absences from earlier in the semester in order to allow the professor to decide the justifiability of excusing additional absences. Students may also be required to produce evidence of such absences if the instructor, in their sole discretion, finds such evidence is necessary.

Course Materials Purchased by the Students:

No course materials are required.