Course
Calendar
Summer 2009
Media Law & Ethics
COMS 400/ Radford University
Instructor:
Prof. Bill Kovarik, Ph.D.
Office phone: 831-6033; Fax 831-6005;
Department office: 831-5531
E-mail: wkovarik@radford.edu
Statue
of Justice, US Supreme Court, by Theodor Horydczak,
Library of Congress, not for commercial use. LC-H814- 1895-007.
Calendar
Quizzes and Tests
on Web CT
Introduction to law and the legal system
Overbeck Chs. 1 (introduction) and 14 (student press)
Also: Radford City ordinance about Greek letters
Ch. 2 & 3 Legacy of Freedom and Prior Restraint
Q2. History
Q3 prior restraint
Ch. 4 Defamation / Libel and Slander / History of libel
Q4. Libel
Ch. 5 Privacy
Q5. Privacy
Ch. 6 Copyright -- Intellectual Property and the Open Source movement
(Videos: Charles Ledbetter on smart crowds and open source; Howard Rheingold on "smart mobs" and complex interdependencies).
Professional ethics in mass media & information systems
Q7 Ethics
Ch. 7 Free press fair trial
Q9. Fair Trial
Ch. 8 Privilege
Ch. 9 Freedom of Information
FOIA
Ch. 10 Obscenity
Ch 11. Regulation of Electronic Media
Ch 12. Anti-Trust law
Ch 13. Advertising (FTC regulation)
Moot court
Review
Exam