Announcing the Center’s New Faculty Co-Director: Tori Ekstrand

By on August 23, 2018 in Center for Media Law and Policy

I’m pleased to announce that Dr. Victoria “Tori” Smith Ekstrand, associate professor at the School of Media and Journalism, has been appointed to serve as a faculty co-director of the UNC Center for Media Law and Policy. Tori replaces Dr. Michael Hoefges, the Center’s dual-degree program advisor, who filled in as interim co-director following Cathy Packer’s retirement in December 2017 (Thank you, Michael!).

Tori has been deeply involved with the Center for many years, most recently serving as the Center’s communications director. Tori teaches media law courses at the School of Media and Journalism and is one of the nation’s leading experts on the “hot news” doctrine. Before coming to Carolina, she was an associate professor in the Bowling Green State University Department of Journalism and Public Relations and an affiliate faculty member of BGSU’s American Cultural Studies department. In 2008, she was awarded BGSU’s Outstanding Young Scholar Award.

Tori’s research explores conflicts between copyright law and the First Amendment, particularly as they arise in journalism and social media. Her work is often grounded in critical legal theory, in which she examines the impact of law and policy on culture and media production. In this vein, she has begun investigating online accessibility for the disabled as a First Amendment issue.  Tori has written two books on the hot news doctrine, a part of unfair competition law that protects the facts of news for a short period. Her revised book on the subject, Hot News in the Age of Big Data: A Legal History of the Hot News Doctrine and Implications for the Digital Age (LFB Scholarly, 2015), looks at the history of the doctrine and its impact on protections for discrete bits of information in the age of Big Data. She has also published articles in Journalism and Mass Communications Quarterly, Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal and Communication Law & Policy. Before teaching, Tori worked for The Associated Press in their New York headquarters for nearly a decade. She served as AP’s director of Corporate Communications, responsible for marketing, public relations and events for the worldwide news agency.

Tori brings remarkable passion to everything she does. I’m thrilled that she is taking on an expanded role at the Center!

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UNC Media Law Students Receive Awards, Present Research, Accept Jobs, and more

By on March 26, 2018 in Center for Media Law and Policy

Our media law graduate students are the heart of what we do at the Center for Media Law and Policy. Daily, they impress us with their knowledge, curiosity and passion. Among their many accomplishments and successes, we are proud to highlight the following items:

Third-year PhD student and Park Fellow Kyla Garrett Wagner was awarded UNC’s 2018 Student Excellence in Mentoring Award. The award recognizes graduate and professional students who engage in outstanding peer mentorship across campus. Wagner is an interdisciplinary student who studies sexual expression as a free speech and public health issue. She recently served as first author on a study about citizen support for a California law requiring adult film actors to wear condoms. The article titled, “My sexual entertainment, my vote: How attitudes toward condom use in pornography related to support for California’s condom law.” The paper was written with Dr. Joe Cabosky, a faculty member in the School of Journalism and Media, and was published in the journal Sexuality & Culture.

Three Carolina students presented at the 2018 Association for Educators in Journalism in Mass Communication (AEJMC) Southeast Colloquium. Third-year PhD student and Park Fellow Kriste Patrow presented on the issue of government speech after a Supreme court ruling on the topic; Third-year PhD student and Park Fellow Kyla Garrett Wagner presented her research on sexual expression; and MA/JD student and Pruden Fellow Mariam Turner presented on artificial intelligence and copyright law. Wagner’s paper was selected as the top student paper for her division. The conference took place March 8-10 at the University of Alabama.

MA/JD student and Pruden Fellow Mariam Turner was recently offered a legal internship at National Public Radio (“NPR”). Mariam will spend the summer at NPR’s office in Washington, D.C. where she will work on audio licensing and copyright issues for NPR’s general counsel.

 

 

MA/JD student and Park Fellow Lindsie Trego, our resident expert on student expression, has accepted a legal fellowship with the Reporter’s Committee for Freedom of the Press, and will begin work with them early next fall. In the meantime, Lindsie will present her thesis research on college media censorship at the AAUP’s Annual Conference on the State of Higher Education in Arlington, VA, June 14-15. This year’s conference has a special focus on free speech on campus. Lindsie is looking forward to presenting to an audience that deals with the practical aspects of student expression in higher education every day. Lindsie was also a recently featured speaker on the Student Press Law Center’s Facebook live webcast celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier Supreme Court decision on student speech.

Third-year Ph.D. student Shao Chengyuan has been invited to present at the International Association for Media and Communication Research conference in Eugene, Ore. in June. She will present two proposals: “Thirty-Seven Years of Comparative Legal Studies on Speech Laws between the United States and China: A Content Analysis,” and “Cybersecurity Law of China and the Chinese Cybersecurity Framework”

Congratulations to our wonderful graduate students!

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Summer Grants for UNC Law and Graduate Students Interested in Media Law and Policy

By on March 23, 2018 in Center for Media Law and Policy

summer-job-pictureAre you interested in pursuing a career in media law or policy?  Are you worried that you won’t be able to take that plum summer job in New York, Washington, or Los Angeles because it’s just too expensive to live there.  Well, the Center for Media Law and Policy is here to help.  For the seventh year in a row, the Center will be providing grants to UNC law and graduate students who have a summer job in the field of media law or media policy.

The Center’s summer grants program provides funds to UNC law and graduate students taking unpaid or low-paying jobs in the fields of media law or media policy. In past years, UNC students have received a summer grant to support their work at a wide range of organizations, including the Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, National Public Radio, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), Future of Privacy Forum, Student Press Law Center, Broadway Video Group, American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, and Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society.

Wait, you don’t have a summer job yet?!  Head over to our media law and policy Jobs Center, where you will find dozens of summer (and post-graduate) employment opportunities. You can easily find the perfect job for you by using our advanced search feature to search by location, keyword, or practice area.  Also, try browsing by job type or category for a more expansive look at the jobs listed. Still not sure what you want to do for the summer?  You can read about the summer experiences of your fellow students on the Center’s blog.

Requirements and Information on How to Apply for a Summer Grant

You must be a UNC law student or graduate student to apply. You will need to download the application form and send it directly to us at medialaw [at] unc.edu along with the other supporting material described below. Please put “Summer Grant Application” in the subject. The deadline for applying for a summer grant is April 2, 2018.

Law students who applied through the law school’s Summer Public Interest Grant Program are also eligible for a Center grant. You do not need to apply to the Center separately. Simply check the box on the general application for “Media Law or Policy” under the heading “Substantive Areas Your Summer Employment Will Involve” and you will be automatically considered for Center funds in addition to the law school grant.

Applications will be evaluated based on (a) your demonstrated commitment to working in the areas of media law or policy and (b) the quality of your essays (each essay should not be more than 500 words).

Required documents include:

  1. Resume (without grade information)
  2. Offer letter from your employer
  3. Essays (no more than 500 words each) *

* Essay questions:

  • Essay #1: Describe your work responsibilities and how they relate to media law or media policy.
  • Essay #2: Describe your commitment to public service. How have your past interests and work experiences contributed to your proposed summer internship responsibilities?
  • Essay #3: How do you see this summer work experience contributing to your long-term career goals?

Be sure to check out these Tips for Writing a Strong Grant Application. You will be notified of a decision in April.

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UNC Students attend NCPA Dinner with NC Supreme Court Justices

By on March 6, 2018 in Center for Media Law and Policy

UNC students with Senior Associate Justice Paul Martin Newby at the 2018 NCPA dinner.

On Feb. 21, the UNC Center for Media Law co-sponsored the North Carolina Press Association’s (“NCPA”) annual dinner with the North Carolina Supreme Court. The dinner is a staple of the NCPA’s annual convention. One of the goals of the dinner is to offer students a chance to mingle and dine with members of the NCPA Board of Directors and the justices on the North Carolina Supreme Court.

Nearly a dozen Carolina students attended the dinner. Each of the students was placed at a table with a Supreme Court Justice (six of whom attended) and several members of the NCPA. During dinner, the tables were given a list of discussion questions that addressed current issues regarding media access and the courts.

Kyla Wagner, a UNC doctoral student, poses a question to the panel of NC Supreme Court Justices.

The students made wonderful contributions to the conversations thanks to their unique perspective as young lawyers, scholars and journalists who work with the industry and the legal system. The result of each discussion was presented by a student representative from each table.

In addition to the dinner discussions, the students were given the opportunity to ask questions of the justices in an informative panel. The entire event served as a wonderful opportunity for the students to interact with and learn from the justices and NCPA board members.

Many thanks to the NCPA for inviting our students to this event!

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Exciting opportunities on our Media Law Jobs Board

By on February 26, 2018 in Center for Media Law and Policy

We are happy to announce that the UNC Center for Media Law and Policy’s Jobs Board is back and better than ever! Our Jobs Board serves as a centralized place to find opportunities (for students and practitioners alike) to work in the ever-widening field of media law and policy. Thanks to our large network of media law companies, scholars, and programs, we end up hearing about job opportunities all over the world. The Jobs Board is searchable by location, keyword, or practice area. In addition, you can browse jobs by type, such as  internships, fellowships, full-time positions, or academic teaching positions, including Academic – Journalism and Academic – Law.

There are some incredible jobs currently listed on our website. Some recent postings include:

  • Director of Data Science & Analytics at ACLU: Director of Data Science & Analytics is responsible for leading an in-house Data Science team and championing a data-driven strategy to help the nationwide ACLU organization reach its programmatic goals and support its advocacy, fundraising and communications initiatives. This full-time position includes but is not limited to realizing the data needs of the organizations, working with engineering to build an infrastructure to support data needs, identifying and monitoring key initiatives through a robust data platform, using data-driven techniques to foster new innovation within the ACLU and ensuring alignment across teams based on their individual data needs. Applications are accepted until the position is filled.
  • Summer Internships at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society: Each summer the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University swings open the doors of our vibrant yellow house to welcome a group of talented and curious students as full-time interns who are passionate about the promise of the Internet. Applicants who are interested in studying various aspects of Internet law and policy should apply for these prestigious internships by February 28, 2018.
  • International Relations Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship at Tufts University: Tufts University is initiating a program in cyber security and policy that will combine the efforts of the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy and the School of Engineering, Department of Computer Science. The University is seeking a post-doctoral research fellow to examine the policy and organizational oversight needed to trust Internet security technologies. This research involves comparative analysis of competing structures for developing standards and guidelines in telecommunications security. The research will involve analyzing international response to the development of cybersecurity and cryptographic standards by private-sector organizations, industry, and government research labs.
  • Summer Legal Internships at Paramount Pictures: Paramount Pictures seeks legal interns for the summer of 2018. The Paramount Legal Internship provides law students with visibility into the business affairs and legal areas of the company, including marketing, motion pictures, intellectual property, and home media. Applications are accepted until February 28, 2018.
  • Technology Law and Policy Fellow at Wikimedia: The Wikimedia Foundation is looking for a Technology Law and Policy Fellow to support its Legal Team in advancing laws and public policy that promotes free knowledge. The Technology Law and Policy Fellow position is designed for a lawyer or other individual who typically has up to 2 years of legal or public policy experience and is passionate about free knowledge and open source issues. This position provides an immersive in-house experience with specific education and training in the areas of Internet regulation and technology law and the operations of the Wikimedia Foundation.
  • Attorney position at MIT/BU Technology & Cyberlaw Clinic: Boston University School of Law is seeking to hire a full-time technology attorney in its Technology & Cyberlaw Clinic. The Clinic represents current students at MIT and BU on matters related to their innovative academic and extracurricular work, in the areas of intellectual property, computer access laws, data privacy and security law, media law and the First Amendment, and relevant areas of regulatory compliance. The attorney would be expected to help law students counsel clients and represent students in pre-litigation and transactional settings, and possibly also in some litigation matters, including response to cease-and-desist letters and other legal threats. The attorney’s primary responsibility will be to supervise and assist students with direct client representation matters and research. The attorney will also assist the Clinic Director in preparing and teaching a year-long seminar for students enrolled in the Clinic, including developing materials, performing research, and coordinating classroom activities and guest presentations.

These are just a few of the exciting job opportunities on the Center’s Jobs Board. Be sure to check the Jobs Board often for the latest updates and media law job postings!

 

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