Insurance jingles are terribly catchy. The other day, I was
trying to explain the concept of a slogan to my nine-year-old, and the first
three examples that came to mind were from insurance commercials. All together,
now: “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there,” “Nationwide is on your side,”
and “We are Farmers. Bum ba dum, bum bum bum bum.”
She sang that darn Farmers riff all day long.
Needless to say, the insurance companies have our attention,
and that is by design. With the world
changing as rapidly as it is, there is a whole new spectrum of assets in need
of protection—SpaceShipOne, Troy Polamalu’s locks, blogs—and a whole
new spectrum of risky, audacious behaviors being incentivized as a result—space
tourism, tackling by hair, journalism.
Last week, the University of North Carolina School of
Journalism and Mass Communication announced that it purchased multimedia
liability insurance for all of its students.
This million-dollar policy protects against claims of libel, copyright
infringement, and invasion of privacy filed against student work.
“It used to be that occasionally students would be
published, but students are blogging, tweeting and everybody is a publisher,” Media
Law professor Cathy Packer told The Daily
Tarheel.
In journalism and communication schools all over the
country, assignments that once were for professors’ eyes only are now published on class
websites. Some programs mandate an
online digital portfolio as part of the capstone project or graduation
requirements; most employers expect to be able to link to sample work.
“Every student who wants to work in media should put together an online portfolio,” writes Dan Reimold of Saint Joseph’s University. Which means that every student who learns-by-doing finds herself at risk.
“Every student who wants to work in media should put together an online portfolio,” writes Dan Reimold of Saint Joseph’s University. Which means that every student who learns-by-doing finds herself at risk.
Last July in Durham, North Carolina, just down the road from
UNC, attorney John D. Haywood filed a lawsuit against two students at St.
Michael’s College in Vermont for a profile
that appeared on their class website at the beginning of the year. Haywood, one of thirteen candidates who ran against
Barack Obama in the 2012 New Hampshire Democratic primary, claimed the profile
was damaging and “without a doubt” cost him votes. According to the Student Press Law Center,
the case was dismissed in January 2013 under Vermont’s anti-SLAPP statute,
which attempts to control the chilling effect of Strategic Lawsuits Against
Public Participation.
This type of statue protects journalists in twenty-seven
states. There is no federal anti-SLAPP
law. Insurance protects against court
costs for libel and invasion of privacy suits in jurisdictions where
legislature or judicial precedence do not.
“It’s becoming more important for everyone who practices journalism to
be familiar with the laws,” David Ardia of UNC’s Center for Media Law and
Policy told The Daily Tarheel.
Learning the core laws, ethics, and standards of the
profession, writes the Knight Foundation’s Eric Newton in Searchlights and
Sunglasses, “is even more important now because new technology allows everyone
to act as a journalist.” For those who create digital media at home (or at
school) without the protections of a parent company, homeowner’s or renter’s insurance, or a personal-injury
or umbrella policy, may cover content-based lawsuits, safeguarding uncompensated journalists in
somewhat the same manner as UNC’s new insurance policy protects student
reporters.
The pilot program at UNC will be one to watch, and
hopefully faculty there will use this investment as an opportunity to educate not only journalism
students but also other community members about changing laws and potential
pitfalls in the tech-based reporting landscape. Craig Newman, who chairs of the National Board of
Advisors of the Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication at
Arizona State University, has called for this type of legal instruction
in both journalism and law schools. In
an opinion
piece for the Columbia Journalism
Review, Newman wrote, “It is imperative that schools provide this help if
the media are to remain independent watchdogs, keeping government honest and
the public informed.”
There is no moral hazard here, although there is risky, audacious behavior. UNC is creating incentives
for students not only to learn about journalism but also to commit acts
of journalism. By insuring students, UNC helps ensure that they will have
freedom—freedom, as Newton
puts it, to “practice innovative real-world digital newsgathering” and “report
stories that help right wrongs.”
Not to sound like a commercial, but it's good to know these student journalists are in... good hands. Bum ba dum, bum bum
bum bum.
