Ludy Goodson
Writing 2
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Script Sample

SCRIPT #3

Evolution of Media Law

 

Hello, again. I hope you’re beginning to see some of the ways in which media law takes shape over time. In this video on the evolution of media law, I want to point out some major ideas about its nature. For example, it’s constantly evolving and this leads to constant change. And sometimes the pace and persistence of change leads to inconsistencies. What does this mean to you as a professional in any media or information industry?

 

First of all, it means that you must remain flexible. This flexibility will help you in understanding the key factors and forces of change. Sometimes the changes are revolutionary. And understanding always means much, much more than just memorizing cases and rules. As you become familiar with the changes in media law over a period of time, you should be able to identify and analyze the forces of change, as well as the patterns of change.

 

Several factors combine to generate the laws and policies prevalent in the media industry at any particular time—often in conflict with each other, and often creating uncertain outcomes. Market forces can be part of a tug-of-war with technological developments. Or technology may outpace judicial and legislative decisions. Private citizens, public interest groups, and private interests may grapple with social and ethical values and a variety of self-interests long before official regulatory deliberations take place.

 

Why are these factors so prominent in the evolution of media law?

 

  • Frankly, the increasingly rapid pace of technological change often forces media law and policy to operate in a reactionary, after-the-fact mode. Sometimes it’s much more like a knee-jerk reaction than the kind of careful deliberation so characteristic of the traditional legislative and policymaking process. Time and technology simply outpace historical precedent and the use of careful analysis and negotiation. As a result, many contend that the marketplace actually regulates new technologies more promptly and effectively than official government institutions.

 

  • Along with this rapid pace of change, it becomes increasingly difficult to develop timely and appropriate policy responses. The net effect places more control of the content in the hands of the public rather than the government. The efforts to provide consumers with the technological means of blocking or filtering objectionable online content or television programs illustrate this kind of increasing public, rather than government control.

 

  • Along with greater control in the hands of the public, we can never underestimate the role of cultural and social values. After all, the people who make media law include politicians and people appointed by politicians—politicians who gain their positions through public influence. And this means that public opinion will find a voice and shape the process, even in the midst of rapid technological changes and sometimes in direct response to those changes. Sometimes it’s easy to see how public opinion operates, as in the areas of obscenity and indecency, and just as easy to see the complications. How can the standards for controversial programming, which vary from community to community, be reflected in the Internet, cable networks, and broadcasting transmitted across local, state, and national boundaries? The interrelationships require a delicate balance.

 

  • Meanwhile, along with the pace of technological changes, demands for more control of content in the hands of citizens, and the influence of public opinion, we’re confronted with the swift and dramatic changes in the Internet marketplace. These marketplace changes can have a very large impact. For example, while decision-makers focused on developing policy in online media and in e-commerce, many companies with market valuations of billions of dollars in the dot-com boom saw precipitous declines. Some filed for bankruptcy, while others have gone out of business.  Examples include Webvan, an online grocer that closed down in 2001 after once having a market value of 1.2 billion dollars, and Excite@Home, which filed for bankruptcy in 2001, less than three years after the company was created in a 6.7 billion dollar merger of the Internet portal Excite and the cable broadband network provider @Home.

 

  • Thus far, I’ve mentioned the rapid pace of technological change that often forces the development of reactionary laws and policies, the impact of changes that have resulted in placing more control of media content in the hands of the public, the influence of cultural and social values, and the large and sometimes unpredictable impact of the Internet marketplace. In the marketplace, two other influences have created even greater complexity. These are the introduction of deregulation and liberalization and they have transformed the marketplace in recent years. Both have allowed new competitors to emerge, while also creating new opportunities for market concentration.

 

All of these factors, along with countless others, underscore the challenging and intriguing nature of media law and policy as an area of study. Often, where you find competing values, technologies and markets merging, you’ll also find the most interesting policy issues. We will spend a lot of time discussing those issues, and don’t look for neat, easy answers. It’s a challenging process for those who are forced to create policy, and we will wade into that complexity ourselves this semester. Don’t worry, we’ll move into it a little at a time, and we’ll get there together.

Peer Exchange Directions

 

INFO FOR 1ST DELIVERY

Many instructors and educators, as well as learning theorists, consider feedback from a partner in your class to be an important condition of learning. In upcoming activities, you and the members of your small group will exchange papers, the purpose of which is to (1) see how someone other than yourself views the issues, (2) practice your own analysis and critical thinking skills, and (c) receive feedback on your own work.

 

Each member of your group will review and provide feedback on another’s work, and your first task is to determine whose paper you will review. First, locate your group and note the order of the names of the students in your group. Second, follow the strategy given below. In a sense, this strategy actually gives you two partners, one for whom you will give a review and one from whom you will receive a review.

 

The last person will review the first person’s work.

The first person will review the second person’s work.

The second will review the third person’s work.

The third will review the fourth person’s work.

The fourth will review the fifth person’s work.

And so on if you haVE more members in your group.

 

2ND DELIVERY ANNOUNCEMENT/INFORMATION

Many instructors and educators, as well as learning theorists, consider feedback from a partner in your class to be an important condition of learning. In upcoming activities, you and the members of your small group will exchange papers, the purpose of which is to (1) see how someone other than yourself views the issues, (2) practice your own analysis and critical thinking skills, and (c) receive feedback on your own work. END ANNOUNCEMENT IF YOU DON'T WANT THE GROUPS TO SELF-SELECT AND YOU WILL ASSIGN PARTNERS. CONTINUE AS FOLLOWS IF YOU WANT THEM TO SELF-SELECT.

 

Each member of your group will review and provide feedback on another’s work, and your first task is to determine whose paper you will review. First, locate your small group within your mentor group section and note the order of the names of the students in your small group. Second, note whether you have an odd number in your group. Then follow the appropriate strategy given below.  After you identify your partner, please send an email to your partner and copy your mentor and lead faculty so that they can check to make sure everyone has a partner and that no one has more than one partner.

 

[Modify this part as needed. Follow basic pattern for rotated exchanges, assuming 2 or 4 assignments: member 1 reviews 2, 2 reviews 3, 3 reviews 4, 4 reviews 5, 5 reviews 1; then  switch: 1 reviews 5, 2 reviews 1, 3 reviews 2, 4 reviews 3, 5 reviews 4.  Can repeat this pattern or switch to next rotation where 1 reviews 3, 2 reviews 4, 3 reviews 5, 5 reviews 2. And next, 1 reviews 4, 2 reviews 5, 3 reviews 1, 4 reviews 2, 5 reviews 3.]

 

[With even numbered groups, direct exchanges can work where 1 & 2 exchange, 3 & 4, 5 & 6 exchange, etc. You could keep that pattern or you might have 1 & 3, 2 & 5, 4 & 6 exchange. Where there are odd numbered groups, only rotation works well, so it’s not really an exchange unless you start with 1 reviews 2, 2 reviews 3, 3 reviews 4, 4 reviews 5; then go to 2 reviews 1, 3 reviews 2, 4 reviews 3, 5 reviews 4, etc. as presented in the previous paragraph.]

 

SAMPLE DIRECTIONS, where the goal was a little more complex, to have the students in even and odd-numbered groups within a mentor group to review each other’s work.

 

For Groups with an Even Number:

The first and second person will review each other's work. The third and fourth persons will review each other's work, and so on.

 

For Groups with an Odd Number:

Follow the same strategy above unless you are the last person on the list. If you are the last person on the list, look for another group that has an odd number and find the last person on that list. You two will exchange reviews of your work.

 

For a Lone Group with an Odd Number: The last person will review the first person’s work. The first person will review the second person’s work. The second will review the third person’s work, and so on. In a sense, this strategy actually gives you two partners, one for whom you will give a review and one from whom you will receive a review. So you will need to modify slightly the ways in which you do some of the activities and you are encouraged to do so with sensibility. If in doubt about what to do for an individual activity, ask your mentor.