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Bulletin: Winter/Spring 2013: Volume 18, No. 2
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Te’o, Armstrong, Pistorius, and Collins Stories Raise Ethical Questions in Sports Journalism
- Cover Story
In early 2013, the world learned that Notre Dane linebacker Manti Te’o’s dead girlfriend had never existed, Lance Armstrong had used performance drugs (PEDs) during each of his seven Tour de France victories, and South African Olympic and Paralympic spring Oscar Pistorius – a hero for many disabilities – was charged with murdering his girlfriend. Continue reading.
Justice Department Secretly Subpoenas Associated Press Phone Records
- Breaking News
On May 10, 2013, the Department of Justice (DOJ) notified the Associated Press (AP) that telephone records listing incoming and outgoing numbers of individual AP reporters, the general AP office numbers in New York, Washington, D.C., and Hartford, Conn., and the main number for AP reporters in the House of Representatives press gallery, had been obtained from the AP’s telephone providers. Continue reading.
U. S. Supreme Court Upholds First Sale Doctrine for Works Made Abroad in Major Copyright Decision
- Copyright
The U.S. Supreme Court released its 6-3 decision in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, 132 S. Ct. 1905, 2012 WL 1252751, on March 19, 2013. Continue reading.
U.S. Supreme Court Unanimously Upholds Virginia Law Prohibiting Out-of-State Open Records Request
- FOIA
On April 29, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States released its opinion in McBurney v. Young, No. 12-17, holding that Virginia may limit open records requests to its own citizens. Continue reading.
U. S. Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Federal Surveillance Law
Manning, Kiriakou Face Punishment for Blowing the Whistle on the War on Terror
- Leaks
In January 2013, former CIA agent John Kiriakou was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to 30 months in prison for violating the Intelligence Identies Protection Act by revealing the name of a fellow CIA agent to a journalist. Continue reading.
Media Organizations’ Use of Public Data Draws Privacy Concerns from Courts, Legislatures
- Data Privacy
Technology and privacy concerns have collided in recent incidents involving media organizations’ decisions to publish public data about individual. Continue reading.
Recent Cases Put Online Defamation in the Spotlight
- Online Defamation
Several recent decisions from state and federal courts have once again brought online libel litigation to center stage, as courts continue to address classic defamation questions such as whether defamatory statements of opinion are actionable, whether outrageous attacks on a private individual are protected as satire, and whether a distinction should be made between media and non-media defendants in the context of online speech. Continue reading.
FTC, State Attorneys General Set Their Sights on Consumer Privacy in the Mobile Industry
- Mobile Privacy
Regulators, including the Federal Trade Commission and the state attorneys general for California and Maryland, have targeted the mobile phone industry’s privacy practices in recent months. Continue reading.
Silha Spring Ethics Forum Discusses Issues Facing Sports Journalists
- Silha Center Events
At the 2013 Silha Spring Ethics Forum, five local sports journalists discussed key ethical issues they face within their profession, including the ever-blurring line between beat and opinion reporting and sports reporters’ use of social media. Continue reading.
Evidence and Privacy in a Digital World: Silha Spring Forum
- Silha Center Events
When Google’s users log onto their Gmail accounts, some believe their communications are “private.” Continue reading.
Donald M. Gillmor, Founding Director of the Silha Center and First Silha Professor, Dies at 86
- Silha Center News
Professor Emeritus Donald M. Gillmor, founding director of the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law and its first Silha Professor, died on February 14, 2013. Continue reading.
Tributes for Donald M. Gillmor from Colleagues, Former Students
Tributes have come to the Silha Center and the School of Journalism and Mass Communication (SJMC) from colleagues and former students of Donald M. Gillmor, and have been posted on the Silha Center’s website at http://www.silha.umn.edu/about/SilhaPastDirectors.html. Continue reading.