As I mentioned, the last class led by Sky will focus on the case study of Wikileaks and how it brings together such issues as prior restraint, national security, criminal liability, shield laws, new media v. traditional media, etc.  The key reading is the Benkler article distributed in class. Please see here for other readings useful in the discussion.

I will also distribute the final exam and go over the questions.

This class will look at transparency trends, including Freedom of Information (FOI) laws and recent government attempts to restrict information, as well as provide a preview for the final class on protecting sources and journalistic materials. Please make sure to read Chapter 5 (Access to Information) and Chapter 8 (Other Restrictions on Newsgathering and Reporting).  Sky already covered a bit of discussion on Official Secrets/Article 23 in her session on PRC media law, but I’ll review Official Secrets more broadly.   For readings, see here.

For class this week (April 12), we will cover copyright issues for journalists. See readings here, especially Chapter 10 of Hong Kong Media Law and excerpts from the Copyright Ordinance (pp264-271).  We will also have a speaker, Henry Oh, an expert on digital privacy and copyright issues, who will talk about his experiences as an online content producer and distributor and issues involving intellectual property and online security (use of encryption and other security measures) in the journalistic context. See more on his biography here.