JOU20006 Media, Law and Ethics

The task

In week two, you and another student will be allocated a legal case. Together, you need to prepare a 10-minute video presentation (using a PowerPoint/Keynote presentation) about the case, to be submitted at the end of week six. In the second half of semester, these presentations will be played in your tutorials, for discussion in class. The schedule for these in-class viewings/discussions will be posted at the start of week 7.

All parts will be treated as joint work. Both students receive the same mark.

You will be given guidance in class on how to shoot and structure your video and incorporate the slides into it, and a short demonstration video will be provided. (This is not a technical subject so you will not be marked on your video creation and editing abilities, but a basic level of proficiency with a slide presentations expected.)

What you have to do - research

• Find and read the full court report of the case:
  • http://www.austlii.edu.au for Australian cases
  • http://www.bailii.org/ for UK cases
  • Make sure you have the latest version of the case in the highest An appeal court can overturn the decision of a lower court. If you don’t have the report of the case in the highest court, you might present completely the wrong outcome.
• Find reaction from media and legal commentators, as well as the facts of the case.
• Find recent commentary about the issues raised in the case, as well as what was said at the time.
• Find images and video clips to include in your presentation where possible.

What you have to do – in the Powerpoint slides and supporting document

• Explain the facts – What happened? Who is alleged to have done what and when?
• Explain relevant laws – What laws may have been infringed?
• Explain arguments made by the two sides of the case
• Present the outcome of the Who won, who lost and why?
• Discuss the implications of the case and any major developments For example, Parliament may have changed the law, official inquiries may have recommended changes to the law or there may have been other big cases.
• Be prepared for questions from the tutor and other For example:
  • Did the law produce a fair or sensible outcome?
  • Is the law a good one? Should it be changed?

What we’re looking for

• A lively, interesting presentation slide pack
• An accurate presentation that gets the facts, laws and outcomes right
• A thoughtful presentation that shows you have considered the implications of the case, especially for people working in the media
• A well-coordinated package of slides