Archive | Journalism

Center to Hire Media Law and Policy Fellow

By on November 1, 2016 in First Amendment, Internet, Journalism, Privacy, Transparency

UNCI’m excited to announce that the Center will be hiring a Media Law and Policy Fellow!  The fellow will play a critical role in supporting a major research initiative at the Center focused on examining various legal and policy issues related to improving government transparency, including the impact government transparency can have on privacy, cybersecurity, equality, and other important interests.

This is a two-year position with a possible renewal for a third year. The salary is $47,476 annually and is accompanied by the standard UNC benefits package and health care insurance for postdoctoral research scholars.

Applicants must hold a J.D. or a Ph.D. We will give preference to applicants with demonstrated interest in the Center’s areas of focus, including journalism, First Amendment, government transparency, and privacy. Applicants should also have experience working with students, organizing events, and managing complex projects. 

The ideal candidate will have:

  • A J.D. and Ph.D.;
  • Knowledge of and interest in the Center’s work;
  • Excellent research, writing, editing, and analytical skills, including empirical legal research experience;
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills;
  • Experience with program planning, administration, and fundraising; and
  • Experience with website, blog, and social media design and content creation.

Applications will be reviewed beginning immediately and will continue until the position is filled. The successful candidate should be prepared to start no later than July 1, 2017, with a potential commencement date as early as January 1, 2017.  

For more information on the position as well as instructions on how to apply, please visit the official position posting on the University of North Carolina’s human resources site, available at: https://unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/108165. You can download a PDF version of the job posting here.

Questions about the position should be directed to medialaw[at]unc.edu.

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Congratulations, #uncfree Instagram Contest Winner Christine Bang

By on October 31, 2016 in Journalism
“We all have the right to [RAP]PS.” RAPPS stands for religion, assembly, petition, press and speech. — Christine Bang, UNC ’17

“We all have the right to [RAP]PS.” RAPPS stands for
religion, assembly, petition, press and speech.
— Christine Bang, UNC ’17

UNC student Christine Bang is the winner of the 2016 #uncfree Instagram Contest. The contest was part of Carolina’s eighth-annual First Amendment Day celebration, which is designed to both celebrate the First Amendment and explore its role in the lives of Carolina students. Anyone who filled out an “I believe in the First Amendment because…” mini poster, took a picture with/of the poster, and posted it to Instagram with the hashtag #uncfree on First Amendment Day was eligible to win. 

Christine posted, “I believe in the First Amendment because… we all have the right to (RAP)ps.” RAPPS stands for religion, assembly, petition, press and speech. Her winning photo and caption earned her a First Amendment Day t-shirt, a $20 Starbucks gift card, and a chance for her quote to be featured on next year’s First Amendment Day t-shirt.  

Christine is a senior from Fayetteville, N.C., majoring in advertising. She was previously Dr. Ekstrand’s student in MEJO 340, “Introduction to Media Law.”  When asked about why she chose advertising and what she hopes to do after graduation, Christine said, “I am passionate about visual storytelling, and I was happy to find a major that combined my interests in art and writing into one. I was drawn to advertising because it embodied qualities that I value: collaboration, community, and creativity. After graduation, I’d love to work at an agency for a couple years and learn from work experience and move out to the west coast one day.”

First Amendment Day is organized by the UNC Center for Media Law and Policy. The center is a collaboration between the School of Media and Journalism and the School of Law. Generous funding for the day’s events is provided by Charter Spectrum (formerly Time Warner Cable).

Congratulations, Christine! 

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Meeting Nina Totenberg

By on September 28, 2016 in Journalism

Senior NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg did not begin her 50-year career in broadcast journalism thinking she would cover the Supreme Court. But in the early 1970s, Totenberg, then with the National Observer, was assigned to cover the highest court in the land and she has been the go-to source for goings-on at SCOTUS ever since.totenberg

I had the honor of meeting Ms. Totenberg Tuesday, September 20, 2016, when she visited UNC for the annual Frey Foundation Distinguished Lecture. She regaled the capacity crowd in Memorial Hall with tales from her decades of dogged reporting. She recalled meeting a young Ruth Bader Ginsberg — whom she called “the female Thurgood Marshall” — and following her rise to seniority and influence on the Court.

Guided by UNC School of Law professor Michael Gerhardt’s incisive questions, Totenberg described in vibrant and poignant terms how politics influence the Court’s composition. She critiqued both Democrat and Republican attempts to tip the balance of the Court along political, ideological lines, citing the failed confirmation of Robert Bork and the controversy surrounding President Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland.

Following the lecture, UNC Chancellor Carol Folt, and administrators, faculty and students from the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Media and Journalism, and the School of Law joined Totenberg for dinner and conversation. Dinner offered us an intimate look into the public and personal lives of the justices through Totenberg’s eyes.  At dinner, Totenberg’s stories took on additional life. She described in heartfelt anecdotes the occasionally fiery but always collegial relationship between Justice Ginsberg and the late Justice Antonin Scalia, whom she affectionately called “Nino.” The guests appeared to hang on Totenberg’s every word, relishing the opportunity to learn from the most seasoned legal correspondent to ever cover the Court.

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Hartzog becomes Starnes Professor of Law

By on September 21, 2016 in Journalism

Law School Outside Headshots 8.11Woodrow “Woody” Hartzog, a Ph.D. graduate of the UNC School of Media and Journalism, will become the Starnes Professor of Law in a ceremony at the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Alabama next week.  Congratulations, Woody!!

Woody graduated from UNC in 2011 as that year’s outstanding Ph.D. graduate.  He quickly became one of the foremost privacy scholars in the nation.  You can read about him and his publications here.

While at Carolina, Woody worked for the UNC Center for Media Law and Policy.  He helped to organize several First Amendment Day celebrations, and the Center still relies on him to suggest great speakers and mentor our media law students.

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Dual-Degree Student Spent Summer on the First Amendment Frontier

By on September 6, 2016 in First Amendment, Journalism

lindsieI spent my summer interning in the legal department at the ACLU of Washington State in Seattle, one of the largest ACLU affiliate offices in the country. At the ACLU-WA, I worked on a variety of projects related to First Amendment and other civil liberties issues.

On the First Amendment frontier, my last assignment at the ACLU-WA was to write a letter encouraging a city to abstain from instituting an unconstitutional panhandling ordinance. The proposed ordinance would have made solicitation in the downtown area of the city a crime, in direct contradiction with applicable First Amendment precedent.

I also spent much of my time updating the ACLU-WA’s public education materials on First Amendment and other expression issues. The materials included guides to protest rights, teacher free speech, and initiative signature gathering.

While I wasn’t working on free expression-related projects, much of my time was spent working on Trueblood v. DSHS, a federal class action suit. In Trueblood, Washington State has been found to violate the due process rights of mentally ill individuals by keeping them in jail for months awaiting competency evaluation and competency restoration services. While I was at the ACLU-WA, part of this case was on remand from the 9th Circuit, and I was able to join the team preparing for the remand hearing.

On a more personal note, as a Washington State native, it was great to be in an office in the heart of Seattle and to be near family and friends for a season. I enjoyed the splurges of the West Coast, including many lattes and delicious produce.

Lindsie Trego

Dual-degree student, earning a master’s in mass communication and a J.D. degree

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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