Introductory Information
Requirements for colloquium: Test - 5 questions (60% to pass)
I. Introductory information (22.9.)
II. Freedom of Speech – Relation to the Media Law (29.9.)
Role of mass media in society; Responsibility of media; Marketplace of ideas; Content of the idea “Freedom of Speech”; Main sources of regulation; Expression – what is it?; Restraints on freedom of expression; Restrictions of free speech; Obscenity and Indecency; Protection of youth and infancy; Reality TV; Public order; The question of War; Contempt of Court; Prior restraints; Incidental restrictions.
III. Rights of Journalists (6.10.)
Who is journalist? Do we need anyspecific regulation or definition? Compulsory membership in association; Journalist as public figure (figure of public interest); Protection of sources; Investigative journalism;
IV. Contemporary trends in media regulation (7.11. – 9:35; 257)
The spread of information and communication technologies provides major challenges to regulators and policy makers. We witness the convergence of media as well as media contents. The lecture opens with discussing some of the implications of these developments for regulation in the field of media and telecommunications. It draws upon examples from the US and European countries. It moves on to discuss another contemporary trend in (not only) media regulation: de-regulation or the reduction of government power in the regulation of media and telecommunications. The closing part of the lecture is devoted to self-regulation. The lecture provides a number of examples that will enable students to discuss the ways in which phenomena such as eBay, YouTube and social networking sites challenge regulatory frameworks and practices.
V. European Union and media regulation (7.11. – 11:10; 257)
The lecture discusses the role of EU institutions in pan-European media policy development. It argues that the role of these institutions in pan-European audiovisual policy and in more general in media policy is limited. This is mainly because media policies are not transposed into the legislation of member states; media, similarly to culture, represents an area where the subsidiarity principle applies. The lecture moves on to discuss the Audiovisual Media Services Directive and the types of action that are used within the EU to implement audiovisual policies.
Students will have a chance to discuss examples of competition regulation and schemes that support the production of European films (the MEDIA programme).
VI. Council of Europe and media regulation (8.11. – 15:05; 257)
The lecture discusses the role of another important pan-European legislator – the Council of Europe – in the field of media. The opening part of the lecture discusses general issues related to legislation developed within the Council of Europe and particular the ways in which the work of the Council of Europe is embedded in the European Convention on Human Rights. The lecture outlines the differences between EU’s directive on audiovisual media services and the Council’s European Convention on Transfrontier Television. It also discusses some of the principles that underlie a series of Ministerial Conferences on Mass Media Policy.
Students will have an opportunity to discuss examples of cases that relate to media and human rights – e.g. protection of religious freedom and censorship – as reflected in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights.
VII. Regulation of public service broadcasting (8.11. – 16:10; 257)
Public service broadcasting is a quintessentially European type of broadcasting. The lecture opens with the establishment of public service broadcasting (namely the British Broadcasting Corporation) and the rationale that lies behind public service broadcasting. It then moves on to discuss regulatory approaches to public service broadcasting, with examples from various European countries.
Students will be able to discuss examples of cases brought against public service broadcasters to the Competition Directorate of the European Commission, of European regulators dealing with convergence and technological change in relation to public service broadcasting and the broader issues of translating the public interest into public service broadcasting regulation.
VIII. Regulation of Advertisement (9.11. – 11:10; S71)
Advertising represents an area that is self-regulated in countries of the European Union. The lecture opens with a discussion of this type of regulation in general and with its application to the field of advertising. It also explores European Union guidelines on the self-regulation of advertising and the case of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that is based in the United Kingdom and has been considered an example of good practice by European authorities.
Students will have an opportunity to discuss cases brought to ASA and to compare how its underlying rationale and decisions on individual cases differ from that of the Czech Council for Advertising (Rada pro reklamu).