MEDIA LAW (2) (CIP 175)

formerly Legal Landmines for Reporters

Professor Ruth Hochberger

This course will focus on legal issues facing the media -- including defamation, privacy, trespass, assault, misrepresentation, fraud, access to courts, and prior restraints – as they arise in the context of reality television, celebrity tabloids, and the “mainstream” press. The class will examine the relevant substantive area of law, the jurisdictional issues posed by publishing on the Internet, and the litigants’ strategy in the case materials we read, with an eye toward understanding how claims against the media can be asserted and defended.