Money and Media Have Issues

By: Dave Aston
 
BLUE BELL, PA--All campus media must drop itself under the umbrella of all key media issues.  Whether it is a Montco Radio broadcast and an issue of slander or CAPG and an issue of digital manipulation, the need to be wary of these issues will never go away.
 
     Libel and slander, which are simply written and spoken versions of defamation, have caused many businesses and individuals to lose serious amounts of money.  The famous libel case of New York Times Co. vs. Sullivan highlights such a large loss.  Before the New York Times brought its case to the Supreme Court, Sullivan had already won a 500,000 dollar judgment in Alabama.  This case is chump change in comparison to a 2012 slander case that won casino mogul Steve Wyn 20 million dollars.
 
     Censorship, though in modern times doesn’t garner millions of dollars in judgments, is another core issue for media creators.  We want our creativity but we must be self-censors or we can lose our livelihoods in the blink of an eye.  According to the American Library Association, many cases in the early twentieth century were criminal not civil.  Nonetheless those criminal cases still led to a loss of money for those convicted.
 
     Digital manipulation, the ability to modify images and videos with computer technology, goes hand-in-hand with defamation.  When images are manipulated significantly beyond their original, the individuals involved often sue for damages.  However, digital manipulation can also come in the form of records alteration.  A case involving Warner Brothers and Clint Eastwood was one such example.  In the end, it was determined that Warner Brothers had manipulated the information stored on the data disks and also had submitted fraudulent documents.
 
     These issues fall under one major issue that guides proper judgment and justice in all matters, including media.  Fair trial.  Fair trial is the legal concept “that people can be sure that [judicial] processes will be fair and certain.”  A violation of fair trial means the wrong party can be awarded damages or have a rightful case thrown out.
 
     In all aspects of media, like life, on campus or not, we encounter these issues everyday.  To maintain the livelihoods we want to pursue and build the reputations we want in the media industry, we must keep our eyes on all of them.  That way, our creativity doesn’t lead to poverty.