MCOM 4003 - Cameron Carter

            Here in the United States, we are awarded many freedoms that are not afforded to people in other countries. It is not uncommon to hear people in the United States talk about protecting their first amendment right, the freedom of speech, although many people are not referencing it correctly. Meanwhile, in other countries, their governments are attempting to add restrictions to journalists and even everyday citizens on their social media accounts. Although I have heard about countries placing rigid restrictions on journalists because their truthful and informative articles could cause the less fortunate to revolt and get the oppressive government overturned.            Lesotho is a small mountainous African country that is landlocked by South Africa. The country has just over two million citizens and the country’s leadership is now trying to place strict restrictions on the social media users of the country....

          It seems like any assignment that I have had over the last year there’s some way that I can tie to COVID-19 in one way or another. Covid-19 has consumed and transformed our lives for more than a year now. Our initial introduction to this pandemic was chaotic in and of itself and not just to the United States but to two people all around the world. To have a virus spreading as rapidly as COVID-19 was in its initial stages without tons of factual and viable information was troublesome within itself. It was the perfect storm for misinformation and “fake news” to run rampant. We went from seeing people buying out toilet paper in the supermarket to two people wearing gloves and an attempt to be safer all while touching everything in sight that’s making the gloves pointless. Not just that at the beginning of the pandemic the previous president of the United States Donald Trump chose to refer to the Covid-19 pandemic as the Chinese virus. Back in early M...

          Just as you take the things that you are passionate about very seriously, so do musicians and entertainers. Although all of us have our favorite musical artists and think that their music is unlike any others, a lot of the base beats and rhythms are derived from other older songs. Nonetheless, musicians do not take lightly to their works being taken and sampled without their consent and compensation. Creating music and an experience its how that are able to leave their legacy even after their passing, so it is only right they they do what they can to protect it.            After the release of the pop song “Blurred Lines” by Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke in 2013 the family of Marvin Gaye sued the two for copyright claims that they took from one of his hit songs that debuted in 1977 “Got to Give It Up”. After listeners took to the internet to keep on the comparison that was noticed, both the pop stars denied ...

  To be a journalist reporting on news whether in the entertainment industry or the middle of a heated protest is important and can come with many challenges. Reporters take protecting the sources and confidentiality seriously, seeing as they need to be trusted in the field and by their audience. However, there have been times where journalists have found themselves being called to testify in court despite reporter’s privilege. According to the  Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press  reporter’s privilege is defined as, “the right not to be compelled to testify to disclose sources and information in court- in each state and federal court.” Now that we are aware of what a reporter’s privilege is, the next portion is to understand who is covered under the privilege. When trying to define exactly what a report is things begin to get a bit cloudy. That classification depends on how they report as well as who they are reporting for. I had to do quite a bit of digging to...

 It is not uncommon to see the names of celebrities in the news for a variety of things, some intentional others not so much. I constantly remind myself that celebrities are people, who are capable of making mistakes and such just like everyone else.  For decades we have seen celebrities mauled by crowds of paparazzi while the most mundane of acts, like taking a stroll through the park or enjoying a nice meal. In this particular case, this particular celebrity wanted all the attention.  Back in January of 2019, we heard tell of an incident involving singer and actor Jussie Smollett being the alleged victim of racial and homophobic hate speech in the form of a letter that that was laced with a powdery substance that was sent to his workplace at Fox Studios, where he worked on the hit show Empire. Investigators believed the substance was more than likely crushed Tylenol. One week later, January 29th, Smollett was allegedly attacked by two men at 2 am as we walked back to hi...

 For the past few years, elections and politics have been at the forefront of the minds of many, it made for the perfect time to experience copyright and fair use needs are fought for. What better way for a candidate to strut out on stage at a campaign event than to a popular song to get the crowd pumped and engaged. There have been various politicians who utilized songs by popular artists without taking the necessary steps to get the approval of the artists on owners over the rights to the music. According to copyright.gov fair use is defined as, “Fair use is a legal doctrine that promotes freedom of expression by permitting the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in certain circumstances. ”Who better to look into than the household name in this country for his single term spent as the 45th President of the United States, known as Donald Trump.  Back in June of 2020, the family of the late country and classic rock musician Tom Petty spoke out against the use of his mu...