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SPRING 2014
News from the Center
This is the time of the year when we start looking expectantly toward the summer, whether it's a slower pace, summer vacation or just warmer weather. But it is also a time when many students begin to think seriously about the career they want to pursue. Here at the Center for Media Law and Policy, we are doing everything we can to make it possible for Carolina students to find (and afford) that dream job in media law or media policy.
- For the second year in a row, we are offering summer public interest grants to UNC law and graduate students who have unpaid or low-paying summer jobs in the field of media law or media policy. The grants, which range from $500 to $3,000 per student, make it possible for Carolina students to pursue jobs that they otherwise couldn't afford to take. Last year, our students received summer public interest grants while working at the Federal Communications Commission, National Public Radio, Electronic Frontier Foundation and Berkman Center for Internet & Society.
- For those students who haven't yet landed a summer job or aren't sure what they want to do, we provide some helpful resources on the Center's website, including a new media law and policy Jobs Center, where we list dozens of summer and post-graduate employment opportunities. (If you know of a job opening we should add, please email medialaw@unc.edu!) Students also can read about the summer experiences of their fellow students on the Center’s blog.
Upcoming Events
Join us on Thursday, March 27, 2014 for an engaging talk by Professor Fred Turner, a media, technology, and American cultural history scholar and associate professor of communication at Stanford University. The event will center on Turner’s new book, The Democratic Surround: Multimedia and American Liberalism from World War II to the Psychedelic Sixties. In his talk, Turner will explore the history behind the fear that mass media technologies might turn Americans into authoritarians, beginning with the new multimedia environments of World War II, then to Cold War American propaganda, and finally, to the multimedia utopianism of the 1960s. More information and a full event description are available on our event page.
On Friday, April 11, 2014, the Center will host an interdisciplinary lunch on the topic, “Should I Comment? Online Engagement and What We Know (and Don’t Know ) About Social Media Interaction." Amazon’s early success was largely due to its reputation and recommendation systems, a model that has been followed by many online companies including Netflix and Yelp. Now, major news sites also engage in reader recommendations and comments, but such engagements often come at a price, including potential legal, ethical, and business problems. We will discuss the frameworks utilized by researchers to study online engagement, what researchers have found, and how these findings can be applied to facilitate online social interactions and commenting. A full event description and RSVP options are available on our event page.
Recent Events
The Center was excited to host the inaugural Wade H. Hargrove Communications Law and Policy Colloquium in November. The colloquium was established to honor Wade Hargrove, a graduate of UNC and an accomplished media lawyer. The colloquium featured a fascinating conversation between David Barrett, chairman and CEO of Hearst Television Inc., and Ben Sherwood, president of ABC News, on "The Future of Televisions News." Video of the event is available in the Center's Video Gallery.
In November, the Center co-hosted a visit and talk by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. In his talk, titled "Without Their Permission: How the 21st Century Will Be Made Not Managed," Ohanian shared his experiences co-founding the social network and news aggregator site Reddit, and watching its extraordinary growth in recent years. The talk was timed to coincide with the release of Ohanian's book of the same name. Ohanian also discussed his recent online ventures, including the travel website hipmunk and the "sidekick-for-hire" site Breadpig. Video of the event is available here.
The Center continues to host regular interdisciplinary lunches. These lunches focus on topics at the intersection of media, law, policy, and technology and are open to faculty and graduate students across the UNC system. Recent lunch topics include Mass Digitization: Fair Use, Google Books, and the Digital Public Library of America (Jan. 2014), led by Dave Hansen of the UNC School Law Library, and Big Data and Computational Politics (Nov. 2013), led by Dr. Zeynep Tufekci, assistant professor at SILS.
From Our Blog
John Remensperger, blogger and digital strategist for the Center, looks at the Obama administration's promises for open governance and transparency. The President's Open Government Initiative has not fared well in the four years since it was implemented, raising questions about what we can expect from the recently enacted National Action Plan, which proposes increased public participation in government.
Liz Woolery, a Ph.D. student in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and outreach coordinator for the Center, explores North Carolina's plan for a future with drones (a.k.a. Unmanned Aircraft Systems). The State Legislature has formed a committee tasked with exploring the privacy and security issues associated with private, commercial, and government uses of UAS. Meanwhile, the FAA is still working on its own plan to integrate UAS into the national airspace.
Sam Scheller, a 2L at the UNC School of Law and blogger for the Center, writes about a recent decision from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals holding that bloggers receive the same First Amendment protection as traditional members of the press when facing defamation charges. The court's opinion emphasized that the nature of the plaintiff and the public importance of the statement made, and not the identity of the speaker, "provide the First Amendment touchstones" in defamation cases.
Recent Media Law News
NTSB Decision Deals a Blow to FAA Regulation of Drones
On March 6, an administrative judge dismissed a 2012 fine the FAA had levied against drone photographer Raphael Pirker. In the decision, NTSB Administrative Judge Patrick G. Geraghty held that the FAA's authority to regulate "aircraft" did not extend to "model aircraft." In the past, the FAA has repeatedly excluded model aircraft -- which are non-commercial and used by hobbyists -- from its regulations and definition of "aircraft." The FAA is appealing the decision.
House Passes Controversial Cell Phone Unlocking Bill
A bill that would legalize cell phone unlocking has cleared the House of Representatives with a 295-114 vote. The bill, the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act, was introduced over a year ago and will now move to the Senate for a vote. A last-minute amendment to the bill prohibits the unlocking of phones for the purpose of bulk resale; the amendment caused some advocates to withhold hold their support.
Aereo Case Headed to Supreme Court; Streaming TV Service Continues Expansion
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in ABC, Inc. V. Aereo, Inc. on April 22, after agreeing to hear the case in early January. The Court will consider whether the streaming television service has infringed on the public performance rights of ABC and other broadcasting companies by retransmitting their content, including sitcoms, news, and other network programming. In the meantime, Aereo is continuing its expansion; the company launched its service in the Austin, TX market on March 3.
Spotlight: Media Law and Policy Resource
Earlier this month, the Digital Media Law Project, housed at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, launched a revamped resource for journalism and news organizations seeking 501(c)(3) tax exemption from the IRS. " Tax-Exempt Journalism and the IRS" includes a checklist for organizations considering tax-exempt status, an overview of the application process, a link to the 501(c)(3) application, sample successful applications, and more. The resource is part of the Digital Media Law Project's efforts to support non-profit journalism.
Recent Postings In Our Jobs Center
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