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Course

Media Law: General Principles - LAWS3221

Faculty: Faculty of Law

School: Faculty of Law

Course Outline: See below

Campus: Kensington Campus

Career: Undergraduate

Units of Credit: 6

EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)

Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 3

Enrolment Requirements:

Pre-requisite: Crime & Criminal Process (LAWS1021/JURD7121) & Criminal Laws (LAWS1022/JURD7122) OR Crim. Law 1 (LAWS1001/JURD7101) & Crim. Law 2 (LAWS1011/JURD7111). Co-requisite: Litigation 1 [LAWS2311/ JURD7211] OR Res. Civil Disp. (LAWS2371/JURD7271)

Excluded: JURD7421

CSS Contribution Charge: 3 (more info)

Tuition Fee: See Tuition Fee Schedule

Further Information: See Class Timetable

View course information for previous years.

Description

This course focuses on the principal legal areas affecting media content. An underlying theme of the course will be the relationship between free speech and the legal restrictions imposed upon the media. It is a companion course to LAWS3222, Communications Law. You will find also that the course builds on your knowledge of a variety of legal topics already studied in your program, such as, for example, torts, criminal law, and constitutional law, but requires you to rethink these areas from the perspective of how they impact upon media as they carry out their roles of reporting and commenting. The course will cover the core areas of media law and its general principles, but will also consider new frontiers in media law and contemporary case studies such as Wikileaks.


Recommended Prior Knowledge

None

Course Objectives

The aims of the course are to:
  • develop an understanding of the central principles of media law and to critically evaluate the relationship between media and law
  • enable students to develop an understanding of free speech protection in Australia, and the claims of media to free speech protection
  • provide students with an understanding of laws which can affect media content
  • enable students to develop an appreciation of how claims to free speech are balanced with competing interests such as the protection of reputation, privacy and the proper administration of justice
  • become familiar with the policy debates and reform discussions relating to the specific legal topics covered in the course: especially free speech, contempt, defamation and privacy
  • encourage students to begin to consider the globalization of media law
The learning outcomes expected on the completion of this course include:
  • understanding of the dynamic nature of media law in the age of new media and globalization
  • familiarity with the theoretical arguments for free speech, and an understanding of how free speech is protected in Australia and internationally
  • ability to analyze critically the claims of the media to free speech protection
  • familiarity with the laws which affect media content and ownership
  • ability to form a reasoned view on the balance between free speech and competing interests
  • evaluation of the policy debates and approaches to reform concerning the legal issues covered in this course such as free speech, defamation, contempt and privacy
  • application of knowledge of the areas of law covered in the course to solve relevant legal problems

Main Topics

  • freedom of speech and the media, including consideration of offensive speech and sedition
  • media ownership
  • open justice, reporting the courts and contempt of court (including the protection of sources)
  • defamation law
  • privacy and breach of confidence
  • new media regulation

Assessment

Class participation 20%

Mid-session assignment 30%

Take-home exam 50%

Course Texts

Prescribed

  • David Rolph, Matt Vitins and Judith Bannister, Media Law: Cases & Commentary (OUP: South Melbourne, 2010)

Recommended
As the course proceeds, additional references which you may find useful will be posted on the WebCT course site. A number of web sites will provide useful resources for this course, and you will find links to them via WebCT.

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Study Levels

Undergraduate Study Postgraudate Study Postgraduate Research Study Non-Award Study

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