Audiences/Law and
Policy
- Schudson, Ch. 9, "The Audience for News," pp. 167-176.
What does Schudson mean when he says "there is no 'short attention span' apart from the kind of world that elicits certain types of and qualities of attention"? What is the difference between extensive and intensive reading, and what is its relevance to the news audience? What is a ritualistic relation to the news? How do journalists think about their audience, if at all? To what extent is news "designed for insiders and … written almost in code"? What are the long-term trends in news readership and viewership?
- Wikipedia, Freedom of Speech, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech
- Wikipedia, the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
- Wikipedia, Defamation, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defamation
- Excerpt from documentary, “The Corporation.”
What are different justifications for the idea of freedom of speech? What is the difference between a negative and a positive theory of rights? How was the free speech clause of the First Amendment interpreted for the first century of its existence? What changed in the twentieth century? What is the government action doctrine? What are exceptions to free speech under current law? What is libel law? How is it differently applied to public and non-public figures? Why is "absence of malice" important in some libel cases? Why are broadcasters treated differently than newspapers in the U.S?
- Schudson, Ch. 11, "Law, Democracy, News," pp. 197-212.
How well does Schudson think freedom of the press is protected in the US compared to other countries? What is a right-of-reply statute? What did the US Supreme Court say about such statutes in Miami Herald vs. Tornillo? In what ways does the US have a free press, and in what ways, according to some critics, could it be more free?