MCOM 4003 - Greta Wallin

 Copyright and Fair Use The term copyright is something I believe most individuals today are familiar with. Most of us have probably experienced posting a video on social media and how it quickly got taken down due to copyright for the music being used in the video. We stumble on copyright every now and then in different situations, especially in social media. When it comes to the term fair use, I was not very aware of what exactly that meant before I did some research on the topic.  Fair Use is a doctrine of US Copyright Law, which allows limited use of material being copyrighted, without permission required from the copyright holder. This principle is based on the belief that the public should be allowed to use some proportions of copyrighted materials for purposes of commentary and criticism. While criticizing a novelist, for example, you should be able to quote a part of the novelist's work without asking for permission to do so. If the copyright owner disagrees with the ...

  Reporter's Privilege The idea underlying the concept of reporter's privilege is that journalists are being granted a limited First Amendment right to not be forced to reveal information or confidential news sources in court. Before doing some research on this topic I did not really know what exactly a reporter's privilege is, and now that I know more about it I feel like it is a topic that should be addressed on a wider scale.  The author Vanessa Leggett spent 168 days in a federal jail in Houston because she refused to disclose confidential information to a grand jury. This is longer than any American journalist had ever been held for refusing to respond to a subpoena, and was only released when the term of the grand jury before whom she was supposed to testify expired. Leggett said she would be more than willing to go back to jail again if she were subpoenaed again. She states "If that's what it takes, that's what it takes. This is not so much about me. It...

 A Fragile Trust Plagiarism and fabrication, are two terms that equal a lie, and two terms constantly circulating in today's society. "Fabrication is the falsification of information while plagiarism is taking another author's work and passing it off as your own. Plagiarism, in short, is a misdeed that lacks originality while fabrication is one that has too much originality and takes liberties with the truth".   In journalism, the term plagiarism is considered one of the primary sins of the profession. The consequence journalists are facing if they get caught using plagiarism in their work is losing their jobs and/or facing legal actions. It is unethical within the field of journalism because it can be seen as a form of theft. By taking the ideas and words from other authors and pretending they are your own, it means that you are stealing that person's intellectual property.  Plagiarism can be found in schools, in students' homework and essays, and within the ...