MCOM 4003 - Katherine Ledbetter

  Freedom of Information Act Requests     " The basic function  of the Freedom of Information Act is to ensure informed citizens, vital to the functioning of a democratic society." This act requires the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased information and documents by the United States government upon request. This act makes agencies functions more transparent and allows for the public to have a look into the governmental functions. The Freedom of Information Act website is set up to help people determine if filing a FOIA request is the best option and helps with the creation of requests.       The website states that the steps in filing a request starts with doing research before a request.      “Before making a request, first see if the information is already publicly available. You can find a lot of useful information on individual agency websites and you can also  search acr...

 Global Media Law      Many countries are not as lenient with journalism as the United States. “ Under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to seek and receive news and express opinions” . A majority of countries follow these principals and allow opinionated expression through journalism. Some countries, though, are the opposite and defy these international standards and ban or severely repress independent media and intimidate journalists with imprisonment threats, digital and physical surveillance, and other forms of harassment. The media serves as the representative for the country, so media laws are strict. In countries with strict media literacy policies foreign journalists are usually not permitted to enter, and when the select few can, they are closely monitored. There are repercussions against freelance journalists and actions are taken against these people.   North Korea is an example of a country that has exce...

  Pinterest and Misinformation      Pinterest is on a mission to ban climate change misinformation. This past Wednesday, the site announces new policy which prohibits users from sharing climate misinformation on its platform. This policy change makes it the rare social platform to outright ban such content . The update states , "Our new policy makes Pinterest the only major digital platform to have clearly defined guidelines against false of misleading climate change information, including conspiracy theories across content and ads." The site is working to remove content that denies climate change. This ban is said to include content that denies the existence or impacts of climate change, as well as denies that humans influence global warming. It is also stated that inaccurate posts about natural disasters and extreme weather events will also be removed.  Pinterest has been graced with the expansion of sustainability searches on its platform, and they didn't wan...

The Murders of Shannan, Bella, and Celeste Watts      On August 13, 2018, Shannan Watts and her two daughters, Bella and Celeste, were brutally murdered in Frederick, Colorado by her husband, Chris Watts. Christopher Lee Watts was convicted of three charges of first-degree murder, two counts of murder of a child 12 years or younger, unlawful termination of a pregnancy, and three counts of tampering with a deceased human body. Before the murder was confessed, the Watts women were believed to be missing. "As details of their deaths made headlines worldwide, it became clear that Shannan's husband wasn't the man he appeared to be ." This tragic situation was covered in a made for Netflix true crime documentary film- American Murder: The Family Next Door. The documentary follows the Watts family from a first-person view, including footage from Shannan's own Facebook, police body cameras, text messages, as well as news stories. The abundance and inclusion of social medi...

   Is It Too Good to be True?      It's hard to not walk on eggshells when it comes to taking quotes from other sources, as plagiarism can break a career just as fast as it had started. When weighing the legality of the usage of other's work it comes down to the purpose and character of the use, the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount used in relation to the copyrighted, and the effect of the use upon the potential market of the copyrighted work.  "Fair Use is a legal doctrine that promotes freedom of expression by permitting the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in certain circumstances." - copyright.gov           AliExpress is a major platform "for ecommerce entrepreneurs to find dropshipping products." Products are so cheap on AliExpress because you are most likely buying straight from the manufacturer through a different supplier. Dropshipping is "an order fulfillment method that does not require a business...

  Lack of Shield Law in States Reporter's Privilege is the right not have to testify or disclose sources of information in both state and federal court. The reason behind this is that journalists have a limited First Amendment right not reveal confidential news. News stories and journalists rely on the content of confidential sources to write stories, specifically those that deal with matters of public importance. According to the Oxford dictionary, Shield Law is the law that protects witnesses from revealing their confidential sources in court. Due to the lack of federal shield law, a 48 of the 50 states have passed their own shield laws. Wyoming and Hawaii, on the other hand, has yet to pass this law. As recently as 2021, a proposed shield law was not passed in Wyoming. Hawaii previously had an enacted shield law from the years of 2008 through 2013. The lack of this law limits reporter's ability to report on important and high-stakes stories. Their 2008 law allowed journali...