LAWS

APPLICABLE TO
MASS MEDIA FOREIGN OWNERSHIP
OWNERSHIP CONCENTRATION

PRESENTED BY :
SHAULA MAE P. ESTOCADO
 Generally speaking, media law comprises two areas:
1. TELECOMMUNICATIONS LAW
2. PRINT LAW

TELECOMMUNICATIONS LAW
 regulates radio and television broadcasts

PRINT LAW
 addresses publications such as books, newspapers, and magazines.

• Despite differences between the two areas, many media laws involve First
Amendment protections. This section explores several areas of media law:
privacy, libel and slander, copyright and intellectual property, freedom of
information, and equal time and coverage.
• Media law has been a much-debated topic ever since
the first U.S. media industry laws appeared in the
early 1900s.

• The contention surrounding media law largely stems

from the liberties guaranteed under the First
Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which includes
the freedom of the press.
FIRST
AMENDMENT
Freedom Of The Press
 First Amendment

The First Amendment is an

amendment to the Constitution of
the United States guaranteeing the
Right Of Free Expression;

1. Freedom Of Speech
2. Freedom Of Religion
3. Freedom Of The Press
4. Freedom Of Petition
5. Freedom Of Assembly
 First Amendment

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,

or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Freedom Of The Press

Rights fall into two main categories

1. Privileges and Protection

2. Access to government operation and records
 PRIVILEGES / PROTECTION OF
THE PRESS

1.Fair Report Privilege

 Allows journalist to report anything being said in official government

proceedings without being sued or censored , no matter how slanderous
or defamatory the facts or quotes could be
 All reporting must be fair and accurate
2.Opinion Privilege
 protects opinion from libel

3.Fair comment and criticism

Similar to opinion privilege
Allows you to criticize performers
Shield law
 Protect reporters from having to reveal confidential
sources and /or notes
 Shield law doesn’t exist in federal law
 Reporters have gone to jail to protect sources

Freedom from Newsroom Searches

 Privacy protection act protects journalists from
search warrants to look for files , notes etc.

 Doesn’t apply if youre involved with the crime ,

planning to destroy evidence or if someone is about to
be hurt
ACCESS TO GOVERNMENT
OPERATION AND RECORDS
Journalistic Access
Freedom Of Information

 The public has the right to know what its government is doing

Open Courtrooms

 Supreme court trials remain open unless an overriding interest

justifies closure
 Grand juries, military trials are closed
 Some courts doesn’t allow cameras live reporting
Open Meetings
 In general terms , local, state and federal boards / commissions
that receive tax money are subject to open meeting laws
 Varies from state to state
 School boards and city councils , for instance have open meetings
and must notify media of the meeting
 Unless it goes executive session or deals with personnel

Open Records
 Freedom of Information Act ( makes most records of
government agencies available upon request

 These request can take days, weeks or months

PRIVACY
ACT
 Privacy Act
• In 1974, Congress passed the Privacy Act, which “protects records
that can be retrieved by personal identifiers such as a name, social
security number, or other identifying number or symbol.”

• This act also regulates how agencies can collect, store, and use
information and requires agencies to tell individuals when they are
collecting information about them.

• Designed to ensure that all First Amendment guarantees remain

honored, the act requires all public and private agencies to function
within its boundaries.
• Media personnel must be careful to avoid revealing certain information
about an individual without his or her permission, even if that portrayal
is factually accurate.

• Members of the media can avoid the pitfalls of privacy laws by

maintaining a professional relationship with the community upon which
they report.

• To avoid liability, journalists and other media professionals are

encouraged to report or comment only on “matters of legitimate public
interest and only portray people who have a reasonable relationship to
[their] topic.
SLANDER
 Also known as verbal, oral or spoken defamation, slander is the legal
term for the act of harming a person’s reputation by telling one or
more other people something that is untrue and damaging about that
person. 
 Slander can be the basis for a lawsuit and is considered a civil wrong
LIBEL
 Publication of a false statement or
carelessly damages someone's
reputation
 Any living person can sue for libel
 Small groups (clubs or businesses can
also be defamed)
 THE EQUAL
TIME RULE
• Falling under broadcast regulations, the Communication
Act’s Section 315—also known as the Equal Time Rule —
requires radio and television stations to give equal opportunity
for airtime to all candidates.
 The Equal Time Rule

• Essentially, Section 315 ensures that television and radio stations

cannot favor any one political candidate over another.

• Passed by Congress in 1927, the equal opportunity requirement was

the first major federal broadcasting law.

• Section 315 also prohibits media from censoring what a candidate says
or presents on air. Recently there has been controversy over campaign
ads picturing aborted fetuses. Citing Section 315, the FCC allowed
these television ads to continue to run.
THE FAIRNESS
DOCTRINE
ensured that radio stations offered equal
time to opposing viewpoints.
• As discussed in Chapter 7 "Radio", the Fairness Doctrine was
enacted in 1949, when applications for radio broadcast licenses
outpaced the number of available frequencies.

• At the time, concerns that broadcasters might use their stations to

promote a particular perspective encouraged the creation of the
radio-specific version of Section 315.

• The FCC thus instituted the Fairness Doctrine to “ensure that all
coverage of controversial issues by a broadcast station be balanced
and fair.”
 THE DIGITAL
MILLENNIUM
COPYRIGHT ACT
 established in 1998, extended existing
copyright laws to encompass and protect
information online.
 In 1998, Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to bring
order to the then-largely-unregulated online arena.

 DMCA prohibits individuals from either circumventing access-control measures or

trafficking devices that may help others circumvent copyright measures.

 Under this act, it is illegal to use code-cracking devices to illegally copy software, and
websites are required to take down material that infringes on copyrights.

 The DMCA does allow webcasting (the broadcasting of media over the Internet) as
long as webcasters pay licensing fees to the companies that own the material.

 The DMCA also protects institutes of higher education, including distance-learning

programs, from certain copyright
 FOREIGN
MEDIA
OWNERSHIP
 Foreign ownership of media is prohibited in Article
XVI (General Provisions )of the constitution , which
limits in Section 11 media ownership to citizens of the
Philippines , or to corporations , cooperatives or
associations wholly owned by such citizens.
 THE 1987 CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC
OF THE PHILIPPINES – ARTICLE XVI

Section 11. (1) The ownership and management of mass media shall be limited to citizens of the
Philippines, or to corporations, cooperatives or associations, wholly-owned and managed by such citizens.

The Congress shall regulate or prohibit monopolies in commercial mass media when the public interest so
requires. No combinations in restraint of trade or unfair competition therein shall be allowed.

(2) The advertising industry is impressed with public interest, and shall be regulated by law for the
protection of consumers and the promotion of the general welfare.

Only Filipino citizens or corporations or associations at least seventy per centum of the capital of which is
owned by such citizens shall be allowed to engage in the advertising industry.

The participation of foreign investors in the governing body of entities in such industry shall be limited to
their proportionate share in the capital thereof, and all the executive and managing officers of such entities
must be citizens of the Philippines.
 MALACAÑANG
Manila
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 1018 September 22, 1976

LIMITING THE OWNERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT OF MASS MEDIA TO CITIZENS OF THE

PHILIPPINES AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

WHEREAS, the Constitution, to protect the integrity and sovereignty of the Philippines, provides among
other things, that the ownership and management of mass media shall be limited to citizens of the
Philippines or to corporations or associations wholly owned and managed by such citizens;

WHEREAS, it is imperative that this constitutional mandate be implemented by law, with appropriate
sanctions, to ensure that it is respected and carried out at all times;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers
vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby order and decree:
Section 1. The term "mass media" refers to the print medium of communication,
which includes all newspapers, periodicals, magazines, journals, and publications and
all advertising therein, and billboards, neon signs and the like, and the broadcast
medium of communication, which includes radio and television broadcasting in all
their aspects and all other cinematographic or radio promotions and advertising.

Sec. 2. The ownership and management of mass media shall be limited to citizens
of the Philippines, or to corporations or associations wholly owned and managed
by such citizens.

Sec. 3. Any foreigner or alien residing in the Philippines and any foreign corporation
doing business in the Philippines who prints or publishes, or causes to be printed or
published, abroad any newspaper, magazine, periodical or other publication but
circulates or causes the circulation of the same in the Philippines shall be covered by or
be subject to the provisions of this Decree.
Sec. 4. Any person who publishes a newspaper, magazine, periodical or other
publication abroad and desires to circulate it in the Philippines shall do so
through a Filipino citizen or a firm or association wholly owned or
controlled by citizens of the Philippines, and the said distributor shall be
responsible for compliance with any requirements of Philippine law, rules or
regulations and be liable for any criminal or civil action against the
publication.

Sec. 5. Violation of the provisions of this decree shall subject the person or
corporation guilty of such violation to cancellation of its permit. In addition,
any person found guilty of violating this Decree shall be punished by
imprisonment of from six (6) months to five (5) years or a fine of Ten
Thousand (P10,000) Pesos, or both such fine and imprisonment at the
discretion of the Court.
If the violation is committed by a corporation, the penalty shall be
imposed on the officers or employees thereof who were responsible
for or who committed the violation.

Sec. 6. All laws, decrees, orders, instructions and rules and

regulations inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed or modified
accordingly.

Done in the City of Manila, this 22nd day of September, in the year of
Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-six.
 15.2 The Law and Mass Media Messages
https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_understanding-media-and-culture-an-introduction-to-mass-
communication/s18-02-the-law-and-mass-media-message.html

Privacy act

http://www.citmedialaw.org/legal-guide/publishing-personal-and-private-information.

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Introduction_to_Mass_Media/Media_Law_and_Ethics

.Steve Rosenbaum, “Viacom vs. YouTube: What Was Won. What Was Lost,” Huffington Post, July 9, 2010,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-rosenbaum/viacom-vs-YouTube-what-wa_b_641489.html.

MC1313: Media Law and Ethics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3Y7BU--ifk