Writers are much more likely to encounter ethical guidelines and restraints. Here, again, knowing the general basis of ethical behavior is an important part of the writer’s work.

Legal protections and restraints

Can we say anything we want to say, write anything we want to write, broadcast anything and put anything on the web?

The answer, of course, is no.

While we have a great deal of freedom in this nation, that freedom is not absolute -- even though there have been advocates of an “absolutist” point of view.

Legally, we do not have the right to libel someone. But libel is a tricky concept. In a practical sense, it does not mean that we cannot say something that will damage someone’s reputation. We do that all the time. Newspapers, magazines, broadcast news operations -- all of them say things every day that will damage someone’s reputation.

What libel really means in a practical sense is that under certain conditions, we cannot damage someone’s reputation. We might say about a politician, “He’s a dirty, lying thief,” and we would probably get away with it. If we said the same thing about our next door neighbor.

Another legal restraint that writers have is copyright and trademark laws.

People in the mass media cannot take work that someone else has created and use it for their own purposes. Even if they do not gain any commercial advantage from doing this, they still cannot use substantial portions of copyrighted material without the permission of the owner. Using small portions of copyrighted material is sometimes protected under the concept of fair use, but this concept should not be interpreted broadly. Permission to use copyrighted material is almost always necessary.

Trademark protection gives the creators of products, logos and slogans some protection against their commercial use by others.

Both copyright and trademark protection are more fully explained on pages 367-371 of Writing for the Mass Media.

The First Amendment

What five freedoms does the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantee?

The First Amendment is the main source of protection for communication within this country. It sets forth the concept that this is to be an open society, that information can pass freely within the society, and that government restraint on this activity should be minimal. Its protections are not absolute, but the First Amendment’s value is in the embedding of this concept of open communication into the laws and the social fabric of the society.

As a media professional, you should take very seriously and skeptically any attempts to restrict the freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment. Even when restrictions are proposed in the name of a good cause, they should be resisted.

One such area is campaign finance reform. Many people believe that the way we run our political campaigns should be changed. But many of the proposed changes contain First Amendment restrictions that should not be acceptable to those of us who depend on the First Amendment for our livelihood -- or to those who believe in free expression or an open society.

News quiz questions

The following are questions for the lecture for Monday, ---. Many of the answers can be found on the Dateline Alabama news web site.