Change is nothing new to media law scholars. In fact, many of us were drawn to the study of law because it can, and often does, change. The normative tradition of legal scholarship is based entirely on the notion that legal doctrine can be improved through the reasoned critique of judicial reasoning. So it comes…
I fell in love with journalism when I was 21. I stumbled onto the paper at my university after taking my first news-writing course as an elective. The smell of the ink and cigarette smoke, the clack of typewriters and a few keyboards (just arriving), along with the serious, likeable and intelligent students that worked…
During my 34 years in journalism education, I’ve seen many changes. But I am as excited about what we do today as I was when I took my first teaching job at Nebraska-Omaha in 1977; when I moved to Arizona State in 1979; and when I assumed my current position at Penn State in 1999.…
An older man meets clandestinely at night with several young people beside a building in midtown St. Louis. He hauls items from his vehicle to give them. They talk about 10 minutes and then go their separate ways. A drug ring? A cell of conspirators? An editorial meeting? It’s the third. The man is Avis…
Column Opening statements were made on Jan. 31 in a 13-year-old suit filed in 1998 by the City of St. Louis against American Tobacco, reported the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In all, 37 plaintiffs, primarily hospitals, are targeting 11 tobacco manufacturers. “Ken Brostron, a lawyer representing the hospitals, argued that tobacco companies knew as far back…