Media Law

Syllabus

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MEDIA LAW (JOUR 3633)

Katherine Shurlds, J.D.

Spring Class: TR 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Fall Class: TR 12:30 - 1:50 p.m

Office: KH 109 D

Phone : Office: 575-6305 (voice mail)

E-mail: kshurlds@uark.edu (the best way to reach me)

Office Hours: TTh  10-11 a.m. and  2-4 p.m. or by appointment

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

REQUIRED TEXT : Mass Communication Law in Arkansas, Bruce L. Plopper, latest edition

OPTIONAL TEXT: Public Communication & The Law, Middleton, Chamberlin & Bunker, 6th edition or whatever edition you can find. Also on reserve at Mullins.

YOU MUST CHECK YOUR E-MAIL: You are required to check your e-mail for messages from me at least twice a week. There will be messages that pertain to assignments and you will be responsible for knowing the information found there. If you are not using your uark account, be sure to check it regularly so that it will not go over quota. You will miss many important messages if your account is blocked. I will send messages to an alternate address if you provide it to me by e-mail.

Also Required: Reading and consulting the class Web page is required.

If you're smart, when you start your legal research, you'll save your preliminary work on a jump drive or some other storage medium, because revisions may be required.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

A study of Constitutional guarantees, statutory laws and court cases applicable to mass communications.

 COURSE OBJECTIVES

(1) To learn ways to avoid being sued for what you write;

(2) To learn to write more accurately about United States legal matters; and

(3) To gain an understanding and respect for the guarantees of the First Amendment and the protections it provides.

GRADING --

Knowing where you are -- gradewise -- in Media Law is a little challenging because so many of your points don't occur until the last week. However, you can get a good idea if you will keep your grades on the tally sheet I have provided for you. To account for the last-week weight, you can guess at what you might make in Team Evaluation and other last-week assignments, including Class Participation, which you should have a pretty good idea about. Click here to download the tally sheet.

The grading scale for your final grade is:

A = 90-100% (558 total points and above)

B = 80-89 % (496-551 total points)

C = 70-79 % ( 434-489 total points)

D = 60-69 % (372-427 total points)

F = less than 60 % (fewer than 372 points)

A total of 620 points are possible in the class.

Four exams			400
Class Participation			50
Media Law Report
	Individual Points:
		Team Evaluation	50
		Case Report	50
	Team Points:
		Abstracts checks (2)	20
		Oral Presentation	30
		Final Report	20

Below are brief explanations. See the specific links on the Web page for full details.

Exams: The exams are taken directly from class notes and the Web page, but reading the Plopper text is important to help you understand the legal principles as applied to Arkansas. The Plopper book is especially helpful for the open-book exam. Any writing required on the exams must be spelled correctly. Spelling dictionaries will be provided during the exams for you to use.

If you are registered with the Center for Students with Disabilities, please let me know at the beginning of the semester so that we can make any arrangements necessary for your exams.

Class Participation:  You will be expected to participate fully in the class.  At the end of the semester, you will write an evaluation of your participation, which I will use to determine how many of the 50 points available you will get. Some of the things that will count toward class participation are : being there, being prepared, asking questions, exceeding expectations on assignments, drawing class attention to related legal issues in the news, volunteering answers to questions asked in class, organizing study groups outside of class, leading discussions and participating in certain law-related activities outside class,. Be sure to read the guidelines for class participation so that you will get full credit for your efforts.

Media Law Report: This is a group project, but you will be responsible for producing individual elements. A number of media law subjects will be available for you to select your topic. There are several documents located at the Web site to walk you through this project. Deadlines are also listed on the Class Schedule.

Missed Assignments: Late assignments will not be accepted for full credit unless you notify me before the due date. Depending upon the reason for the lateness, points may be deducted from the exercise turned in late. I will not accept any papers for credit after one week.

If you are absent because of a university-sponsored activity, you must make arrangements to do your work before you leave.

You MAY leave papers in my box in the journalism office, but this practice is at your own risk. If the paper is lost, you have no recourse. It is best to find me to give me the paper in person. (I don't remember ever losing a paper, but this policy saves me from the "I put it in your box" scam.)

Cell phones and newspapers: Please turn off your cell phones before you come to class. DO NOT EVER answer your phone while in class. If you feel you must answer it before you turn it off, go immediately into the hall.

I applaud your reading newspapers -- too few people do these days, even journalism students -- but please don't do it once I begin to address the class.

Chatting:  If you are talking about something from class, I'll try to be lenient. However, excessive chatting bugs me. I find it distracting. I will call you out on it and ask you to leave class if you feel you must continue talking. It's for your own good as well: You don't want to be missing what I'm saying in class or what I'm saying to another student. Those things end up on the exam too. Plus, surveyed students often mention chatterboxes as the most objectionable people in class. Don't be a source of irritation to your classmates.

Anything Written: As an instructor of writers, I expect good writing on everything you prepare outside class. Use complete sentences and cohesive paragraphs. Check for spelling and typographical errors, especially in proper names.

All assignments should be typed, double-spaced and in Times font, size 12 points. DO NOT PRINT ON BOTH SIDES OF THE PAPER.

However, since in-class assignments cannot be typed, make sure I can read what you write.

ALL ASSIGNMENTS ARE TO BE TURNED IN AS HARD COPY unless I specifically tell you that e-mail delivery is OK.

CLASS WEATHER POLICY: Of course, if the university is closed, we will not have class. Otherwise, if I decide to call off class because of bad weather, I will notify the journalism office, which you can call, 575-3601. If there is no weather message, class will be held as usual.

If special circumstances cause you to miss class because of weather, the absence will be counted as an unexcused absence. However, if your grade will be adversely affected by your absence, I will hear your appeal provided you contact me in person or by telephone before noon that day.

ACADEMIC HONESTY: I am very strict about academic cheating. I suspect everyone, so don't be offended if I question you when you are innocent. Don't be guilty. You'll end up at the Judicial Coordinator's office. There is no such thing as "minor cheating" in my mind. Some students thing that it's only cheating if you steal an exam or plagiarize. Some think it's only cheating if it's worth 50 points or more. Not so in my class. Look at someone else's paper, sign someone else's name on the roll, cheat on a 3-point exercise -- it's all cheating. Don't test me, please. I don't like to catch cheaters, but usually I do. For the whole story, see my Academic Honesty page.

This link is to former Provost Bob Smith's essay on plagiarism (2007):
http://libinfo.uark.edu/ata/v8no1/plagiarism.asp

This link is to the UA Student Handbook:
http://www.uark.edu/ua/uaprod/handbook/

This link is to the Handbook section on plagiarism:
http://www.uark.edu/ua/uaprod/handbook/pages/academic_information.html

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