Stanley J. Baran
absolutist position | regarding the First Amendment, the idea that no law means no law
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actual malice | the standard for libel in coverage of public figures consisting of knowledge of its falsity or reckless disregardî for whether it is true or not
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ad hoc balancing of interests | in individual First Amendment cases, several factors should be weighed in determining how much freedom the press is granted
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applied ethics | the application of metaethics and normative ethics to very specific situations
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ascertainment | requires broadcasters to ascertain or actively and affirmatively determine the nature of their audiencesí interest, convenience, and necessity; no longer enforced
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checkbook journalism | paying sources for information or interviewees for their interviews
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confidentiality | the ability of media professionals to keep secret the names of people who provide them with information
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copyright | identifying and granting ownership of a given piece of expression to protect the creators' financial interest in it
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democracy | government by the people
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editorial policy | newspapersí and magazinesí positions on certain specific issues
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ethics | rules of behavior or moral principles that guide actions in given situations
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Fairness Doctrine | requires broadcasters to cover issues of public importance and to be fair in that coverage; abolished in 1987
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fair use | in copyright law, instances where material may be used without permission or payment
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indecency | in broadcasting, language or material that depicts sexual or excretory activities in a way offensive to contemporary community standards
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libel | the false and malicious publication of material that damages a personís reputatio (typically applied to print media)
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libertarianism | philosophy of the press that asserts that good and rational people can tell right from wrong if presented with full and free access to information; therefore censorship is unnecessary
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media councils | panels of people from both the media and the public who investigate complaints against the media and publish their findings
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metaethics | examination of a cultureís understanding of its fundamental values
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moral agent | in an ethical dilemma, the person making the decision
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music licensing company | organizations that collect fees based on recorded music users' gross receipts and distribute the money to songwriters and artists
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normative ethics | generalized theories, rules, and principles of ethical or moral behavior
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normative theory | an idea that explains how media should ideally operate in a given system of social values
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obscenity | unprotected expression determined by (a) whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest, (b) whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law, and (c) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value
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ombudsman | internal arbiter of performance for media organizations
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operating policy | spells out standards for everyday operations for newspapers and magazines
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policy book | delineates standards of operation for local broadcasters
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pornography | expression calculated solely to supply sexual excitement
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prior restraint | power of the government to prevent the publication or broadcast of expression
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public domain | in copyright law, the use of material without permission once the copyright expires
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ride-alongs | the practice of allowing television reporters to accompany police in the conduct of their duty
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safe harbor | times of the broadcast day (typically 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.) when children are not likely to be in the listening or viewing audience
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self-righting principle | John Miltonís articulation of libertarianism
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slander | oral or spoken defamation of a personís character (typically applied to broadcasting)
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social responsibility theory (or model) | normative theory or model asserting that media must remain free of government control but, in exchange, must serve the public
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Standards and Practices Department | the internal content review operation of a television network
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traffic cop analogy | in broadcast regulation, the idea that the FCC, as a traffic cop, has the right to control not only the flow of broadcast traffic but its composition
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