Knowledge of Legal and Ethical Issues

When assigned our slideshow and video assignments in Mass Comm 330: Multimedia Writing just weeks ago the largest issue seemed to be actually capturing footage and editing the material captured. Upon further reading throughout the chapters in the book Online Journalism Principle and Practices of News for the Web it was brought to my attention the need to have knowledge of both legal and ethical issues when producing stories for online media.

One must fully read up and be knowledgeable about the legal and ethical issues that arise when working with online media. We have learned about about the copyright law forever and know the importance of them, but once reading specifically chapter 11 in James C. Foust book I found it particular interesting the subsection on fair use.

Fair use is the one exception to the copyright law. Fully understanding fair use for online journalist, bloggers, ect. is increasingly important because it can be used to our benefit when producing a story for the online medium but not fully understanding fair use can also lead to copyright disagreements leading ultimately to legal cases.

There are many other legal and ethical issues that are important to be knowledgeable about when working in the professional world. These issues can both help further your career but not understanding them can also hinder ones professional career. The need for professionals to constantly keep up to date with these issues is every prevalent as we are in the middle of the most interesting and ever evolving journalistic times!