MEDIA AND INFORMATION LITERACY MODULE LEGAL ETHICAL AND SOCIETAL ISSUES IN MEDIA AND INFORMATION

CURRENT AND FUTURE TRENDS OF MEDIA AND INFORMATION Legal considerations are impacting, if not deciding, everyday choices in the media.
The following could represent a major legal problem in the media industry: A TV news
MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) is a free distance-learning program that can report quoting a police officer about a drunk driver who caused a fatal accident, a
be taken through the internet by large numbers of people for additive learning. It is an mistake associated the wrong name or home address with criminal wrongdoing,
online course that is being offered by private companies and universities, mainly in publishing controversial excerpts on a web site from a new novel, a photo from a web
America, for additional knowledge, and for new learning experiences. The number of page used in a student newspaper, announcing that a local businessman has
students that can enrol for a specific course is basically no limit. Some universities in contracted AIDS. Any of this could result of a costly lawsuit. How costly? The normal
America collaborated with private companies once had a single course having 50, expense of simply protecting yourself from a libel suit is about $550,000. On the off
000 students enrolled on it. Some websites that provide MOOC service are Coursera, chance that you happen to lose the suit, the settlement could sum to a huge number
edX, Udemy, Udacity, HarvardX, BlackBoard, NPTEL, iversity, NoveEd, Standford of dollars on top of that. Although most legal constraints, for example, shield laws, law
OpenEdx, Janux, Edcast, and many more. against defamation, libel, intrusion of privacy, and so, forth., are in general society’s
best interest, others are not, for example, a large corporation threatens a costly
Here are some of courses provided by the said websites;
lawsuit if a true story about their wrong doing is printed or broadcast. The best we can
1. 3D Printing Software do is to recommend some broad rules that ought to not be viewed as legal rules. This
2. Accounting of Business Decision Making: Measurement and is primarily on the grounds that the law changes from state to state and after some
Operational Decisions time. Even legal guidance that has been assumed valid for a considerable length of
3. Advanced Content and Social Tactics to Optimize SEO time can be all of a sudden turned around by a court choice.
4. Advanced Learning through Evidence-based STEM Learning
LEGAL ISSUES IN MEDIA INDUSTRY
5. Algorithm of Graphs
6. Data Collection: Online, Telephone and Face-to-Face Copyright is a big issue the media industry faces. Legal protection is advised so that
their original material can’t be used in somebody else’s name.

However, copyright can only be on the application of the idea, not the idea itself. It is
also illegal to discriminate anyone on grades of race, sex, disability when recruiting in
the workplace. National security is another legal issue film maker’s face. Filmmakers
and producers must be aware of certain laws such as the official secrets act 1911
and the prevention of terrorism.

1. Health and Safety

Health and Safety Advisors in the TV and film industry give advice
on health and safety management systems within each film or production,
reviewing each company’s Health and Safety policy, and ensuring that
health and arrangements and the appropriate assessments have to be
carried out in order to ensure everybody’s health and safety. These help
highlight and different kinds of risks in the workplace or on location.

Module 3 | Media and Information Literacy. 1

 2. Copyright and Trademarks Representational issues have to do with the re-presentation of people, facts, opinions
and events.
Copyright applies to work that is recorded in some way, rights exists in items
such as literary, artistic, musical and dramatic work as well as films , sound 1. Representation and Ethics
recordings and typographical arrangements. It gives the author specific rights in Representation refers to the construction n any medium aspects of
relation to the work, prohibits unauthorised actions, and allows the author to take reality such as people, places, objects, events, cultural identities and other
legal actions against instances of infringement or plagiarism. Trademarks are abstract concepts. Such representations may be in speech or writing as well
registered at a national or territory level with an appointed government body and as still or moving pictures.
may take anywhere between 6 and 18 months to be processed. Registered A reporter when working on a certain story will have to make sure that
trademarks may be identified by the abbreviation TM, or the® symbol. he/she isn’t bias or one sided towards that story. He/she must also gather
both sides of the argument, for and against that story in order to gain a fair
3. Equal Opportunities sided report.
2. Accuracy
Equal opportunities is an act where people should be treated as an equal and not
All information output, as appropriate to its subject and nature, must
be looked down upon because of their age, disability, ex, religion or ethnic origin.
be well sourced, based on sound evidence, thoroughly tested and presented
The Equal Opportunities act took effect in August 2011. This new act replaced
in clear, precise language. The information should be honest and open
the 1995 equal opportunity act, with some changes to discrimination laws and
about what they don’t know and avoid unfounded speculation. Claims,
changed key definition.
allegations, material facts and other content that cannot be corroborated
4. Exclusivity and Confidentiality should normally be attributed.
3. Harm and Offense
A non-disclosure agreement is a legal contract between at least two parties that The media information must apply generally accepted standards so
outlines confidential material, knowledge or information that the parties wish to as to provide adequate protection for members of the public from the
share with one another for certain purposes, but wish to restrict access to or by inclusion of offensive and harmful material. The must observe the 9pm
third parties. A non-disclosure agreement creates a confidential relationship television to ensure material that might be unsuitable for children is
between the parties to protect any type of confidential and proprietary information appropriately scheduled and must balance responsibility to protect children
or secrets of production. A non-disclosure agreement in a contract may also and young people from unsuitable content with their rights to freedom of
include exclusivity between the parties involved, more likely the person signing expression and freedom to receive information. This includes violence,
the contract to a company makes that person limited and exclusive to working for strong language, nudity, sex, portrayal of alcohol, smoking, drugs, etc.
the production company, the production or any other details the contract states.

OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES IN MEDIA AND INFORMATION

ETHICAL ISSUES IN THE MEDIA
The use of social media has exploded in the last several years, so much so that it
Morality issues such as right and wrong have to be taken into account. Exploitation now touches almost every facet of our lives. Friendster, the first social media site,
and sensationalism also have to be considered and taken into account. was launched in 2003. Myspace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter soon followed.
Facebook, the most popular of the social media sites, currently has over 500 million
Offensive material such as privacy and copyright are not usually enforced by law.
users. It is the second most popular behind Google.
Regulatory bodies and codes of practise exist often within the industry.
Module 3 | Media and Information Literacy. 2
Social media is about community and relationships. You probably already realize how character of national media cultures, (2) whether social platforms are employed by
important it is to increase your businesses exposure in your local community. public or commercial broadcasters, and (3) the specific techno-commercial strategies
Perhaps you belong to the local Chamber, of Commerce, Rotary club or serve on the of television producers and social media companies. By exploring these three
board of charitable organization. Think of social media as an online extension of the dimensions, the article presents a basic analytical model to systematically compare
many networking activities you may already participate in as part of the “real world.” and contextualize empirical findings on the relationship between social media and
Ome of the more commonly known professional sites are LinkedIn, FastPitch and audience engagement.
Plaxo. These sites are used for business networking and job hunting. Many people
consider them to be customer lead generation vehicles as well. These sites share the 3. Twitter Time. A Temporal Analysis of Tweet Streams During Televised
common objective of building an online business community. They can support your Political Debate - Philip Pond, Department of Media & Communication,
business strengthening and expanding its network of contacts. Based on specific RMIT University.
trade and business information, LinkedIn, Fastpitch and Plaxo enable you to connect This article examines the role that the micro blogging service Twitter plays in
individuals who may have mutually beneficial opportunities to offer. engaging audiences with televised political debate. Analysis focuses on Q&A, a
MEDIA ISSUES IN 2016 political discussion show hosted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and the
#QandA hashtag used to discuss the broadcast. Analysis suggests that rather than
1. Drama without Dramaꟷ The Late Rise of Scripted TV Formats enabling user-to-user communication, the #QandA stream is characterized by the
ꟷ Jean K. Chalaby struggle to signify and complex nonlinear temporalities.

The article revisits the history of television (TV) formats ꟷ concepts of TV shows that These contributions to ongoing language wars imply an emergent type of audience
are licensed for local adaptations-focusing on Drama scripted entertainment. While engagement, which may not be compatible with a normative framing of deliberative
the TV format on revolution of the 1990s bypassed scripted formats, they have been discourse.
catching up in recent years. This article analyzes both the reasons for this late rise
4. The Turn to "Bad Koreans" Transforming Televisual Ethnicity -
and the factors behind the recent growth. It argues that the adaptation scripted
Timothy K. August, Department of Cultural Analysis and Theory
formats are more complex, and risks remain higher than for other genres. The
underlying economics of their production and distribution also differ from non-scripted This article examines the production and negotiation of Korean American televisual
formats. The stars aligned when demand for drama increased worldwide, Hollywood images in U.S. reality and travel food programs. We explore two different
studios began to mine their catalogues, new exporters and scripted genres emerged, representations of Korean Americans, the first in CNN's Parts. Unknown and the
and knowledge transfer techniques improved. Finally, this paper analyzes the second in Bravo TV's Top Chef, to identify the demand for ethnic transformation that
significance of the rise of scripted improved in the global TV format trading system Korean Americans face and examine how these trials reanimate the role of Korean
entertainment. Americans on television. We argue that the iconoclastic figure of the "Bad Korean"
2. Rearticulating Audience Engagement Social Media and Television Thomas highlighted in Parts Unknown challenges stereotypical portrayals of Korean
Poell, University of Amsterdam. Americans by positioning cast members as active and disruptive cultural producers.
In our analysis of Top Chef, we focus on the emergence of the "Shifting Korean" to
This introduction to the special issue on social media and television audience highlight the transformative process demanded by the reality television genre. We
engagement sketches the key dimensions that affect how audiences are transformed conclude by querying the representational possibilities for Korean Americans, asking
through the development of social platforms. Building on the five Contributions to the what claims the "Bad Korean" and "Shifting Korean" can make on cultural
special issue, we identify three dimensions that deserve further attention: (1) the authenticity.

Module 3 | Media and Information Literacy. 3