Glossary

absolutist position	regarding the First Amendment, the idea that no law means no law



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



ad hoc balancing of interests	in individual First Amendment cases, several factors should be weighed in determining how much freedom the press is granted



applied ethics	the application of metaethics and normative ethics to very specific situations



ascertainment	requires broadcasters to ascertain or actively and affirmatively determine the nature of their audiencesí interest, convenience, and necessity; no longer enforced



checkbook journalism	paying sources for information or interviewees for their interviews



confidentiality	the ability of media professionals to keep secret the names of people who provide them with information



copyright	identifying and granting ownership of a given piece of expression to protect the creators' financial interest in it



democracy	government by the people



editorial policy	newspapersí and magazinesí positions on certain specific issues



ethics	rules of behavior or moral principles that guide actions in given situations



Fairness Doctrine	requires broadcasters to cover issues of public importance and to be fair in that coverage; abolished in 1987



fair use	in copyright law, instances where material may be used without permission or payment



indecency	in broadcasting, language or material that depicts sexual or excretory activities in a way offensive to contemporary community standards



libel	the false and malicious publication of material that damages a personís reputatio (typically applied to print media)



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



media councils	panels of people from both the media and the public who investigate complaints against the media and publish their findings



metaethics	examination of a cultureís understanding of its fundamental values



moral agent	in an ethical dilemma, the person making the decision



music licensing company	organizations that collect fees based on recorded music users' gross receipts and distribute the money to songwriters and artists



normative ethics	generalized theories, rules, and principles of ethical or moral behavior



normative theory	an idea that explains how media should ideally operate in a given system of social values



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



ombudsman	internal arbiter of performance for media organizations



operating policy	spells out standards for everyday operations for newspapers and magazines



policy book	delineates standards of operation for local broadcasters



pornography	expression calculated solely to supply sexual excitement



prior restraint	power of the government to prevent the publication or broadcast of expression



public domain	in copyright law, the use of material without permission once the copyright expires



ride-alongs	the practice of allowing television reporters to accompany police in the conduct of their duty



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



self-righting principle	John Miltonís articulation of libertarianism



slander	oral or spoken defamation of a personís character (typically applied to broadcasting)



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



Standards and Practices Department	the internal content review operation of a television network



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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