Communication Law and Ethics (COMU2160)

The case below describes the ethical dilemma faced by Maya Davis, a journalist in Riverton, who discovers confidential documents that reveal safety concerns about a groundbreaking technology at EonVolt that could revolutionize electric vehicles. Please read the case below and then write a 1200-word response to answer the questions at the bottom of the text. 

Case: Currents of Dilemma - Navigating the Ethical Waters of EonVolt's Electric Horizon

Maya Davis is a journalist at the Riverton Chronicle, the only local newspaper in the small town of Riverton. The Riverton Chronicle had been serving the community for over 100 years, surviving the Great Depression and multiple recessions. After months of what she hoped would be the journalistic scoop of her career about new technology that might change the future of electric cars, she now finds herself entangled in a web of dilemmas that seems to tighten with each revelation.

At the center of her dilemma is EonVolt, a battery production company that employs close to 2000 employees, accounting for close to one-third of the employment in Riverton and an even larger share of the direct and indirect revenue generated by this small town. An important part of EonVolt’s business is the production of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs). Recently, one of Maya’s close friends, Lauren Dima, who is an executive at EonVolt, gave Maya an exclusive sneak peek at EonVolt’s new groundbreaking battery technology that can revolutionize the EV industry.

The technology EonVolt is developing can overcome the challenges of charging rates of solid-state batteries, cutting the charging time in half. This can help address an important concern that potential EV consumers have about wasting time to charge their cars. Also, EonVolt’s technology significantly reduces the carbon footprint and costs of EV battery production. This revolutionary advancement could be crucial for the urgent need to reduce carbon emissions to fight off global climate change. It would make production much more environmentally safe and could make EVs much more affordable for the general public. If successful, EonVolt would become one of the most important players in the EV industry. This means significant growth potential for the company and consequently for the economic well-being of Riverton. On the other hand, failure to capitalize on this huge research and development project may lead to the bankruptcy of the company, meaning that many people, including Maya’s brother Dreyfus, who is an engineer at EonVolt, can end up losing their jobs with dire, cascading, devastating effects on the Riverton community.

During her visits to the factory, Maya Davis stumbled upon confidential internal correspondence about an explosion that took place during one of the tests of the battery and internal emails debating whether this might be a potential safety concern or just an unrelated accident. The correspondence also hinted that some executives were downplaying these risks as a fluke and persistently wanted to fast-track the release of the product. Indeed, Maya was not able to find any other evidence suggesting that there was a systematic problem with the battery technology. Confidentiality agreements would make it impossible for any employee to come forward, even if they knew of a problem. As Maya delves deeper, another layer of complexity becomes obvious. Not only is EonVolt a major advertiser for the Riverton Chronicle, but the CEO of EonVolt is an investor in the Chronicle and a close friend of the Chronicle’s owner. Revealing the safety concerns could jeopardize not only the groundbreaking article but also the newspaper's financial stability. Given the financial problems that the newspaper, like any other local newspaper, is facing, further problems could mean that the newspaper could go bankrupt, depriving the community of the last source of reliable, local news. 

As if walking on a journalistic tightrope wasn't challenging enough, Maya has also heard rumors that there is a political connection between a member of EonVolt’s executive board and a prominent city official. Exposing the safety concerns could have far-reaching consequences, affecting not only the company but also the political landscape of Riverton. To complicate matters, Maya's best friend, Lauren, who initially gave her the scoop, is a high-ranking executive at EonVolt. Lauren had shared some confidential information in the past, trusting Maya's discretion. Despite not being connected to the internal correspondence that Maya encountered about the explosion, Lauren could be blamed for leaking the documents to her. One late night, Lauren calls Maya and pleads for discretion with a trembling voice. Even being mistakenly implicated in the leak could lead to her being blacklisted from the industry, leaving her ostracized and jobless. Given the confidential nature of the correspondence, the implication that she was involved in leaking them could make Lauren subject to lawsuits about breach of contract, and both Lauren and Maya could be sued for injurious falsehood. Maya's editor has given her 72 hours to finalize the story for the Sunday edition, which would coincide with EonVolt's planned public announcement of their new technology. Major investors will be flying in for the announcement, and the company's stock price had already begun climbing in anticipation.

Caught between professional duty, personal loyalties, and the potential fallout for their newspaper, Maya grapples with the decision. The city's future, the friendship with Lauren, the newspaper's financial stability, and journalistic principles all hang in the balance. The maze seems to grow more intricate with each step, leaving Maya to navigate a delicate path fraught with conflicting interests.

Questions 

1. What conflicting interests, and about which stakeholders, is Maya facing in this case? 

2. What principles of journalistic code of ethics are relevant to Maya's situation?

3. How would each of utilitarianism, deontology, and virtue ethics be used to guide Maya’s decision?

4. If you were Maya, what would you decide to do? Select one of the ethical approaches from question #3 to explain your choice.

In addressing these questions, you are free to use the recommended readings assigned for this course. However, you will also need to support your arguments with further literature on ethical theories, journalistic ethics and journalism practice. This may include academic literature, real-life examples of how journalists have in the past dealt with such dilemmas, and relevant reports (such as the influence of advertising on editorial content). You should cite all the resources that you use in your answers, including materials from the recommended course readings.

Disclaimer

The characters, the town, the company, and the events described in the case are purely fictional. It has been written by Lemi Baruh, the coordinator of COMU2160. Any possible resemblance to a real company or person is coincidental. Google Bard and ChatGPT have been used to add nuances to the case and edit the content of the case study.

Assessment Criteria

The criteria sheet is provided on Blackboard course page.

Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Assessment: 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Translation (MT) are emerging tools that may support students in completing this assessment task. Students may appropriately use AI and/or MT in completing this assessment task. Students must clearly reference any use of AI or MT in each instance and append a copy of the completed AI Info Table (available for download at the course Blackboard page) to summarise their use of AI at the end of their assessment.

A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.

In a significant move that has captured global attention, Australia has passed legislation banning social media access for users under 16 years old. This makes it one of the strictest social media age restrictions in the world. The legislation, which will take effect in 2025, imposes substantial penalties of up to A$50 million on platforms that fail to prevent under-16s from creating accounts. While social media platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and X will be affected, the ban excludes gaming and messaging platforms.

The legislation represents a significant shift in how governments approach youth safety online, moving beyond traditional self-regulatory frameworks to direct intervention. However, questions remain about whether such restrictions are the most effective way to protect young people online, or if alternative approaches might better achieve these goals while preserving the benefits of digital connectivity.

For your assessment #2, please choose and complete one of the alternatives described below. 

Alternative 1

In a 1300-word analysis (including an introduction and a conclusion), address the following questions:

1. Provide an analysis discussing the pros and cons of Australia's social media ban for under-16s. While doing so, please
2. discuss the perspectives of different stakeholders including parents, young people, platforms, educators, and policy makers
3. discuss the potential limitations and challenges of implementing this type of a regulation
4. discuss the intended and unintended consequences of such a regulation on the media markets and stakeholders like parents, adults, young people, educators.
5. support your analysis with evidence and examples from previous literature focusing on effectiveness of methods for protecting children from negative effects of media products, the effectiveness and positive and negative consequences of statutory regulations about social media and regulations that restrict access to online content.
6. Propose alternative approaches to protecting young people on social media. What other ways could we make social media safer for young people? Support your proposals with evidence from existing research or successful initiatives in other contexts.

Your response should demonstrate critical thinking, engagement with multiple perspectives, and careful consideration of practical implications. Include relevant citations and examples to support your arguments.

Alternative 2

You are a reporter working for Reuters. You specialize in media technologies. It's the end of 2026 and Australia's social media ban has been in place for a year. Write a 1300-word news report about what happened since the law took effect. To what extent did it work? What were the reasons? What challenges were faced? What were the consequences of the law? The report should be an evidence-based analysis in the style of a detailed news feature that evaluates the ban's consequences.

Your analysis should:

1. Examine the impact of the ban through the lens of media the perspectives of different stakeholders including parents, young people, platforms, educators, and policy makers.
2. Support your analysis with evidence and examples from previous literature focusing on effectiveness of methods for protecting children from negative effects of media products, the effectiveness and positive and negative consequences of statutory regulations about social media and regulations that restrict access to online content. Draw on existing research about similar regulatory interventions in other countries (e.g., France's age restrictions, UK's online safety measures).
3. Discuss what lessons should regulators in other countries learn from Australia’s social media ban experiment

Your response should demonstrate critical thinking, engagement with multiple perspectives, and careful consideration of practical implications. Include relevant citations and examples to support your arguments.

Assessment Criteria

The criteria sheet is available on course Blackboard page.

Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Assessment: 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Translation (MT) are emerging tools that may support students in completing this assessment task. Students may appropriately use AI and/or MT in completing this assessment task. Students must clearly reference any use of AI or MT in each instance and append a copy of the completed AI Info Table to summarise their use of AI at the end of their assessment.

A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.

You are working as a training coordinator of the Human Resources department at a media company. You can choose the type of media company (e.g., an online news source, social media platform, newspaper, an AI video company). The Chief Learning Officer has given you the task of developing training materials regarding relevant laws.

These training materials should serve as a resource for training new staff members in understanding and complying with these laws and maintaining ethical standards. As a pilot for his training program, you need to develop the training materials for one of the areas listed below. Please choose a domain that is relevant to the company you are working for (e.g., whistle-blower protection for a news organisation). This may include the following; however, you may choose another relevant domain with the approval of the course coordinator:

• Data privacy
• Freedom of Information (FOI)
• Whistle-blower Protection
• Legal protection of journalists and their sources (including shield laws and contempt)
• Defamation
• Intellectual property

You can choose to develop the training material for a jurisdiction you are interested in (e.g., GDPR in the EU; Defamation Law in China; FOI in Australia).

Steps:

1. Pick the type of media company, law domain, and the jurisdiction you will work on.
2. Research: Research the relevant laws in the jurisdiction you have chosen. You can use the assigned readings as a reference; however, you will need to also familiarize yourself with recent case studies, examples, or controversies related to these laws in the media industry. 
3. Training Materials Development: Determine the format of your training materials. You can produce a booklet, website, infographic, or video. You can also mix the formats. For example, you can create a website with short videos. If you want to design a booklet or an infographic, you can use publishing tools like Adobe InDesign, Canva, Word, Pages, Keynote, or PowerPoint. If you want to produce an interactive web resource, you can use web content management tools such as WordPress, Wix, or Weebly. If you want to produce videos, you can use video editing or animation tools like Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro, Adobe Animate. Keep in mind that this is not an essay; the training material you produce should be visually appealing.
4. Prepare Your Training: Produce the content of your training materials with the following sections:
5. Introduction: Provide an overview of the importance of the law area (e.g., privacy, free speech) for the media industry. Explain the potential consequences of non-compliance or organizations and their stakeholders. Please remember that the consequences you are describing should be specific to the law area you selected. For example, if you are focusing on copyright, the consequences you are describing should be about the consequences of failing to comply with copyright laws in the jurisdiction you are focusing on. 
6. Relevant Laws: Summarize the relevant laws, including their key provisions and what they require from individuals and organizations. Illustrate the application of these laws with examples or scenarios specific to the media industry. Summarize relevant procedures that individuals and organizations should follow to comply with the law. For example, if you are describing the General Data Protection Regulation in the EU, a procedure you may need to describe would be what a company should do if a data subject requests to review the data you have about them. 
7. Best Practice Guidelines: Develop a set of best practices and ethical guidelines that media professionals should follow to ensure compliance with the relevant laws you are describing. Again, keep in mind that the best practice and ethical guidelines should be specific to the legal area you are focusing on. For example, if you are focusing on defamation laws in Australia, you need to discuss what measures a journalist can take to avoid putting themselves at risk of defaming someone. 

Important Notes:

1. The word length for the assignment is 1300 words
2. While preparing your training material, please pay attention to formatting and style.
3. Training materials should be engaging for the reader.
4. If you choose to produce a video or multiple videos, each minute of video is equivalent to 80 words.
5. Training material should assume that the reader has no previous training on the legal issues the training is focusing on. Please use a language that is accessible to adults who do not have prior training in media law. Minimize the use of technical or legal jargon. 
6. Long texts would confuse and bore the readers. Rather than just relying on lengthy texts, when appropriate, use techniques like bullets, lists. To reduce the burden on the reader, use section headers to divide long texts into short, digestible units. 
7. Use visual aids to increase the comprehensibility of the information. For example, when you are discussing procedures, you can use flow charts instead of summarizing the procedure with long sentences. Alternatively, you can use text boxes or thought bubbles to draw attention to a key point your readers should remember.
8. For this assessment, you can use any citation style you use. If you want a style that will minimize interruptions in the text, we recommend the use of a style that relies on footnotes or endnotes (e.g., Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition – full note, IEEE, Springer – Humanities).

Assessment Criteria:

The criteria sheet is available on course Blackboard page. 

Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Assessment: 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Translation (MT) are emerging tools that may support students in completing this assessment task. Students may appropriately use AI and/or MT in completing this assessment task. Students must clearly reference any use of AI or MT in each instance and append a copy of the completed AI Info Table (available on course Blackboard page) to summarise their use of AI at the end of their assessment.

A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.