Objective: To introduce students to the regulatory complexities connected to internet rights to privacy and behavior.
INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1
Scan Nexis Uni * for information about Bollea v. Gawker Media.
*You must be logged into the classroom and enter the university’s library through More > Academic Services > Library in the navbar to be able to use the Nexis Uni database search function.
Step 2
Find out what kind of mass media law(s) were involved in the case.
Step 3
Take notes on the facts of the case.
Step 4
Take notes on the issue(s) raised in the case.
Step 5
Take notes on the arguments made and the evidence used by the plaintiff(s) and defendant(s).
Step 6
Take notes on any extrinsic factors that led to the alleged misconduct or controversial material.
Step 7
Take notes on the case’s disposition (ruling, holding, rationale, and outcome). How was the case ultimately resolved?
Step 8
Analyze your notes and make connections to information in our weekly learning resources that you can use in your explanation of case.
Step 9
Write a 2 page, single-spaced news story that highlights how the case was resolved and summarizes its developments.
- Start the story with the most important aspects of the developments in the case.
- Stay focused on facts in your summary.
- Use what you have learned about defamation, libel, and privacy laws to explain arguments made in the case.
- Attribute any directly quoted material to its source like you would in a published news story, i.e., Gawker Media’s lawyers argued… Use accompanying in-text citations at your discretion.
- Analyze the developments in the context of what you have learned about defamation, libel, and privacy to the extent you can as a blogger.
For help with the basic structure of your news story, see:
Step 10 - List the sources of your material in an APA-style end-of-text reference list.