RFTM Ch. 6: Communications Law

First, let's look at some general concepts:

Libel is defamation by written words, including stories, headlines, photo captions, TV scripts that are then read out loud, online content, ect. It's a degree apart from slander, which iss defamation by spoken word.

There are several elements of libel, including ...

... defamation. Did the words injure a reputation? It must be phrased in a literal way.


... identification. Was the person identified, directly or by reference?

... publication. Was the item actually published?

... falsity. Is the statement false? The burden is on the plaintiff -- not the defendant -- to prove it was false.

This is where most libel cases are thrown out of court, provided that the news organization did their due diligence in reporting and the story is, in fact, clearly true. If it's true, then there cannot be libel.

... injury. Did the accused actually suffer some form of harm as a result, such as monetary losses, harm to reputation, humiliation and/or mental anguish?

... fault. Did the news organization make the statement intentionally, recklessly or negligently? Did the news org know it was false, and shared it anyway? Did the news org fail to do due diligence in checking out the claim before reporting it? Did the news org have a reckless disregard for the truth?

Fault is very difficult to prove. The plaintiff must prove the news org knew facts that would call the story into question; refused to examine contradictory evidence; relied on an inherently unbelievable source; published/posted/broadcast the story without investigating; and/or simply made up the story. This is what is known as actual malice.

It's not enough for the plaintiff to prove there were simple unintended mistakes in handling the story, or that the defendant simply disliked the plaintiff. Fault is almost impossible to prove IF proper due diligence --like verifying facts, getting multiple sources to confirm information; giving the story subject a chance to rebut allegations -- is done in reporting, writing and editing the story.

Many journalists are frequently threatened with libel suits -- in my professional career I was threatened many dozens of times! -- but the vast majority are never sued, because the story is true.

There are several libel defenses. Those inlcude ...

... truth; that the gist of the charge is true. If there is no falsity, then there cannot be libel. A story that harms a reputation but is true is called the truth. From a legal standpoint, a story need not be correct in every detail; just the point the defendant is claiming to be libelous.

There are, however, exceptions to the truth rule. For example, if a quote is defamatory, but cited correctly without investigation into substance. (That's why we need multiple sources on things.) Or the omission of facts that create a misleading conclusion. Or the misuse of words to create a false impression. (We have to get context right.)

... fair report privilege. That is when we correctly quote defamatory statements during (but not before or after) public meetings in all levels of government, such as those offered during a city council meeting or a criminal trial or in an official document like a police report.

... fair comment and criticism. That is, opinions based on true facts, including opinions in news stories. Yes, an unattributed opinion in a news story is bad journalism, but it enjoys the same legal protections as good journalism.

The textbook offers a good libel avoidance checklist on p. 137; please review it.

Now that we talked about libel, let's move on to invasion of privacy. It involves intrusion, or intentionally intruding on someone's privacy in a highly offense manner.

For it to be invasion of privacy, this must take place in a place where a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as if the reporter was trespassing in a private home, private property or a business open to the public but privately-owned (like a shopping mall), or using an eavesdropping device, or looking inside a person's home uninvited.

Courts do not consider ordinary newsgathering techniques to be intrusive, such as examining public records naming the person; interviewing their friends, relatives, associates and enemies; requesting interviews; and anything happening in a public place (like public streets, sidewalks, parks, and publicly-owned buildings).

Next, there is the issue of publicizing private facts. To be off-limits, the information must truly be private; that is, it's information not available via any public record; facts that are not widely known; and regarding a matter that is "highly offensive" and not just embarrassing; and that there is no legitimate public interest in disclosure.

There is also false light. That's where reporting creates a false and offensive impression. Legally, it's similar to libel, and a defendant must prove actual malice. Again, if we interview a wide variety of sources, double-check our information, give the story subject an opportunity to respond and keep the context of the story based on what we discovered and confirmed, then this should never be a real threat to us.

Let's now move on to access to public proceedings and records. First, at a breaking news scene like a car accident or house fire, it's important to remember reporters have no greater rights than citizens to gather at a news scene. Officials may extend access as they see fit, and they often do. But it's their call.

To help mitigate that, always carry press credentials identifying yourself as a working journalist; don't trespass on private property or cross marked police lines without permission; and obey all orders from police, even ones you don't think are right. You can always complain later.

Often, reporters access documents by citing state or federal Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) laws, regarding access to such documents. FOIA requires government to make most documents publicly accessible, but there are exceptions.

Those exceptions usually include: classified information; information regarding internal personnel rules and practices;; trade secrets; confidential commercial information; memos that would reveal decision-making processes; information that would intrude on personal privacy; police investigative files which, if disclosed, could cause harm or compromise an ongoing criminal investigation; and other limited exceptions.

It's hard for courts to close or otherwise restrict courtrooms or court proceedings to the press, unless media attention threatens the fairness of a trial. Courts may sequester jurors, issue gag orders to witnesses, seal some court files, or delay trials, but only in very rare instances can they legally shut the press out of a courtroom.

Out-Of-Class #2: More Published Work

And uLoop.com strikes again. At this rate, I should get adviser pay over there.

Plus, we have this one from HerCampus.com. 

Congrats, all!

Out-Of-Class #3: A Good Example

Campus Coffee Consumption

November 22, 2013

            A piercing whirring sound permeates the buzz of hushed voices every so often.  A pleasant aroma wafts through the still air.  And beside many of the books or laptops that occupy most tables, a tall white disposable cup sits.

            This is the typical scene at the MSU Student Union.  The screeching noise is the sound of a barista steaming milk.  The sweet aroma is that of ground coffee beans.  And the tall white cup is the characteristic container of lattes from Biggby Coffee.

            A similar scene can be found in Wells Hall, where there is a popular Starbucks, as well as nearly any other location on campus that serves coffee.

            College students’ increasing consumption of specialty coffee can be attributed to convenience, the necessity for an energy boost, the atmosphere of coffee shops, and also an element of indulgence, according to two baristas and an expert on consumer behavior.

            Starbucks supervisor and MSU junior Emily Kaip said that at the Wells Hall location, the busiest time of day is “definitely in the morning starting around nine, and probably up until about three o’clock.”

            “It’s just when people are in class – when people are on campus,” she said.

CAN WE QUANTIFY WHAT EQUALS A BUSY TIME? HOW MANY CUSTOMERS PER HOUR?

            Biggby barista and fifth-year student at MSU Michelle Cusick elaborated on the same observation: “During the day – in the morning – it’s in between classes, like right before classes.  And then once classes start, it slows down.”

            Clearly, the location of these two shops on campus is a major component of the convenience students depend on, considering that they do not have to stray far from their classes to acquire a latte of their choice. 

            Kaip SAID SHE agreed that likely the greatest factor influencing students’ decision to purchase specialty coffee is convenience, but offered a different perspective as to why.

            “I don’t have a coffee machine at home – coffee machines can be kind of expensive,” she said.  “Also, you’re brewing a whole pot, and if you’re the only one drinking it, you would not need ten cups.”

            MSU junior Athena Smith, on the other hand, said that she purchases coffee “just for exams or if I’m like super HYPHEN HERE tired…I wasn’t a big coffee drinker to begin with in high school, and then once I came to college I drank more coffee.”

            Smith said she typically only drinks coffee to stay up and keep studying, a phenomenon Ayalla Ruvio, an MSU marketing professor and expert in consumer behavior, referred to as “the notion of caffeine to boost your performance – at least for the short-term.”

            It is this shared notion that causes coffee shops like Starbucks and Biggby, according to Kaip and Cusick, to see drastic spikes in their numbers of customers during stressful school weeks such as midterms and exams.

            “For the closing shift, it’s usually pretty dead,” said Cusick.  “But when midterms and finals and stuff come – that’s when you get a lot of people, ‘cause they’re here studying at the Union and are pulling late nights.”

            But Ruvio revealed that based on basic human nature, another reason students are likely to be found near coffee shops while studying for exams is so that they can reward themselves for some of the hardest work they will do all semester.

            She said that during exam week, it’s almost as if students “get more value for the same price” for their cup of coffee, as it both makes them more productive and rewards them for their studying efforts.

            “There’s a lot of rational decision-making that needs to be done by students to survive their college years,” Ruvio said.  “But we all have the need to splurge every once in a while, to indulge ourselves, to pamper, to reward our hard work.”

            Nonetheless, most people – especially college students – can’t afford to treat themselves by purchasing the latest Gucci purse, Ruvio said as an example.

            “We have to really focus on things that we can afford that still will give us that feeling of pampering,” she said.  “And coffee is a really great option.”

            Furthermore, “it’s here, and it’s available, and it’s trendy, and it tastes good,” she said.

            And on top of that, coffee shops typically feature an environment that is conducive to the activities of students: there are tables where customers can use their computers, couches where groups can meet to discuss responsibilities for their projects, and usually soft background music playing that helps many concentrate. ACCORDING TO WHOM? ATTRIBUTE

            Ruvio said that specialty coffee is no longer just about the product, but also the service and the atmosphere of the environment. 

            “Coffee has become a part of student life.  It’s more than just a product,” she said.

            And coffee franchises such as Starbucks want to keep the college student segment of their consumer base satisfied.  Ruvio explained that when most people imagine the “typical” Starbucks customer, they think of a businessman or woman, nicely-dressed, most likely on their way to work.

            So in other words, “students are Starbucks’ typical consumers five years from now,” Ruvio said.

            From specialty coffee providers’ perspective, by marketing to students, they’re “investing in their future customers,” said Ruvio.

 Word Count:  843

Sources

Ayalla Ruvio

Professor in Department of Marketing; expert in consumer behavior, materialism, spending and buying.

(517) 432-6467

aruvio@msu.edu

Emily Kaip

Starbucks supervisor; MSU junior

kaipemil@msu.edu

Michelle Cusick

Biggby employee; MSU fifth-year

cusickm1@msu.edu

Athena Smith

MSU junior

smithath@msu.edu

Out-Of-Class #3: Almost A Good Example

Almost a strong story with good reporting and strong structure, but you'll see the big problem here, among a number of little issues here  ...

11/22/13

Out-of-Class Story #3

The Impact of Tailgating

            On any college game day, COMMA, STED SEMICOLON thousands of football fans flood to Michigan State University’s campus with their over-sized tents, gas grills, big HYPHEN HERE screen televisions, and trailers.

            According to MSU Landscape Services Manager Sean O’Connor, the campus typically sees about 100,000 HYPHEN HERE plus visitors every football Saturday.  With such a large number of people coming to campus for every game, the need for liter MISSPELLED WORD; LITTER, STED LITER control and signs of landscape damage have become common issues.

            “This is a kind of phenomenon that has grown within the last 15 to 20 years,” Paul Swartz, MSU Campus Arborist COMMA HERE. PLUS, CAMPUS ARBORIST IS LOWER CASE IN THIS INSTANCE said. “The tailgating has really kicked in. It’s just become this huge party.”

A BETTER TELLING QUOTE OR A SECONDARY QUOTE HERE MIGHT ELABORATE ON WHAT SORT OF LITTER/DAMAGE THEY’RE SEEING

            One season ticket-holder and MSU alum, Theresa Pichette, said that she has seen a change in tailgating since graduating in 1985, despite a few similarities from previous years.

            “It’s always been a kind of production but now it’s become more of an all HYPHEN HERE day thing,” Pichette said.  “People get more into it.  They bring all kinds of fancy food and there are more coolers and merchandise everywhere.”

            A more elaborate tailgating affair amongst students and fans has made for an increased need for campus clean HYPHEN HERE up by landscape services.

            “When I first came here we did not do anything other than clean up after the football games,” Swartz said. “We didn’t do anything pre-game or during the game itself to control the liter.” *** FATAL FACT ERROR: LITTER, STED LITER. MISSPELLINGS WITHIN QUOTES THAT CHANGE THE MEANING OF THE QUOTE ARE AUTOMATIC FATALS ***

            Now MSU Landscape Services Coordinator Fred Kester said he and six others arrive five hours before the EACH, STED THE game begins to hand out trash bags to tailgaters, in an effort to control the liter. MISSPELLED WORD; LITTER, STED LITER

            “It’s something they have been accustomed to and even look forward to a lot of times.” Kester said.  “A lot of them take our bags to away games for tailgating, so that has been good.”

            It is not until the following morning and all of the fans have left, in which the true damage can be seen, according to landscape services.

            Paul Harper is one MSU Landscape Services group leader who takes part in the clean HYPHEN HERE up every Sunday after the football games.

            “We start at about 7:30 in the morning at the tennis courts because it tends to be the worse area with the most trash,” Harper said. “From there we break off into five different zones.”

            According to Harper, it typically takes around five hours for him and his crew of over 50 people to clean up a tailgating mess, with the exception of the University of Michigan game, which tacked on an additional five hours.

            “It’s kinda disheartening, not only to see all of the trash but also to see all of the turf torn up,” Harper said. “We work hard to keep things healthy and to see things get obliterated over night is sad.”

            But the damage that is done to campus doesn’t stop at the trash, PERIOD, STED COMMA; THEN, START NEW SENTENCE HERE the wear and tear of tailgating has also taken a toll on its physical structure, according to MSU Landscape Services.

            “My biggest thing is the compaction of soil around the root system of the trees and that’s damage doesn’t show up for a few more years,” Swartz said. “It won’t be another five years or so until the trees actually suffocate.”

            According to Swartz, as people drive over certain areas of the turf to tailgate, the soil is compacted, limiting the amount of oxygen and moisture that can get to the roots of the trees COMMA HERE ending in permanent damage.

            Similarly, Kester said other tailgaters have been known to actually defoliate and tear down branches of trees to make for a better tailgating spots.

            “Some have actually carved out areas so that they can put their pop HYPHEN HERE up tents beneath the shade of the tree,” Kester said.

            It is for these reasons that different areas have been by roped off and signs have been placed around campus turf, according to MSU Landscape Services SEMICOLON HERE  and the amount of time in which people can tailgate has been limited, according to Harper.

            “Basically north of the river is where tailgating should only take place on where it is concrete,” Kester said. “They’re allowed put their tents up but they aren’t allowed to park on the grass.”

            Despite these set boundaries, however COMMA HERE there are still those who choose not to abide by the guidelines set by landscape services, according to Swartz.

            “The way I look at is if you had a bunch of friends coming to your house for a party, they wouldn’t drive up on your lawn or break the branches of your trees,” Swartz said. “Why do people think that it’s okay to do here?”

            Although the total cost of harm that has been done is difficult to pin point, PINPOINT IS ONE WORD O’Connor said that for the U of M U. OF M., STED U OF M game alone, there was about 20,000 dollars $20,000, STED 20,000 DOLLARS, PER AP STYLE worth of damage done to the landscape, not including the trees that may need to be replaced in the future.

            “We don’t really have a funding source so there’s no money really set aside for the repair of damage,” O’Connor said. “Sometimes it’s parking that is charged and sometimes it’s the athletic department themselves.”

            As a whole, Swartz said that the reason behind taking so much care into saving the campus is because it is just too beautiful to trash six times a year.

            “And we know a lot of students mention that one of the main reasons why they come to Michigan State is because of the beautiful campus,END QUOTE MARKS HERE  Kester said. “So the more consciousness we can create within the student population, the better off we’re going to be.”

            MSU sophomore Sarah Kort said although she is guilty of taking tailgating on campus COMMA HERE she would hate to see the actions of others hurt it’s ITS’, STED IT’S aesthetics.

            “That’s what nice about MSU, it’s secluded from the city with really nice landscape,” Kort said. “I wouldn’t want it to become more urban looking like other campuses.”

Word Count: 983

Sources:

Sean O’Connor

Landscape Services, Manager

(517)-355-7750

oconnor@ipf.msu.edu

Fred Kester

Landscape Services, Coordinator

(517)-884-2324

fkester@ipf.msu.edu

Paul Swartz

Landscape Services, Campus Arborist

(517)-884-2322

swartz@ipf.msu.edu

Paul Harper

Landscape Services, Group Leader

(517)-896-2261

harperpa@msu.edu

Theresa Pichette

MSU alum/tailgater

(586)-337-0395

Sarah Kort

MSU, Student

(586)-321-0436

kortsara@msu.edu

ASSIGNMENT GRADE: 1.0 (1 FACT FATAL)

INSTRUCTOR COMMENTS: NICE JOB OF REPORTING AND ORGANIZATION, BUT SOME AP STYLE AND GRAMMATICAL PROBLEMS, AND THE FACT FATAL CANNOT BE OVERLOOKED. PLEASE MAKE SURE WE ARE DOING OUR DUE DILIGENCE REGARDING THE BASICS: LET’S DOUBLE-CHECK OUR FACTS, USE SPELL CHECK AS A SUPPLEMENT TO BUT NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR CHECKING THINGS FACT-BY-FACT; AND LET’S BE SURE TO FOLLOW AP STYLE RULES.

Out-Of-Class #3: Not The Only Fatal

In one story inside of a quote, when we meant to say possess (as in, control and own), we said posses (such as, the plural of a posse, which is a group of people out to nab a criminal at-large).

In another story inside of a quote, when we meant to say from, we said form. 

In yet another story inside a quote, we spelled to sloppy (as in, I will sloppy, or go toward sloppy) when we meant too sloppy (as in, very sloppy).


Yes, those are fatals. No, spell check wouldn't have caught them, because we misspelled words that created correctly-spelled but unintended words. Yes, we needed to check our work fact-by-fact, to make sure what we wrote was correct and what we intended to write. No, avoiding fatals has nothing to do with talent; it's just a question of vigilance.

In one more story inside a quote, we wrote something was "right from the gecko" when we meant the common expression of "right from the get-go." If a quote doesn't make sense, ask the person to repeat themselves or explain what they said. 



As of today, 17 of 18 people in this class have passed the membership test for the Fatals Suck Club, and are members in good (?) standing. But that's to be expected; most everyone fatals in this class a couple of times.

What is far more disappointing -- and concerning -- is a quintet of fatals so late in the semester, in such a highly-weighed assignment.

Out-Of-Class #2: Do We Have Some Published Stories?

Yep. Like this one at uLoop.com.

And another one at uLoop.com.

Plus, more uLoop.com.

Congrats, folks!

Job Shadows: This Could Be You!

Here's some of the fun Andrea U. had on her shadow at the CBS TV affiliate here in Lansing recently:

... and ...

... and here's some video clips of her doing her thing here and here and here!