Volume 11, Number 1
Below is the Table of Contents for the Fall 2005 edition of the Silha Bulletin. Click on the title to read the full article.
Bulletin Fall 2005
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Top Story: Accuracy, Privacy Issues Raise Questions for Wikipedia
Two recent incidents have brought the online encyclopedia Wikipedia under close scrutiny.
Defamation News: John Doe No. 1 v. Patrick Cahill and Julia Cahill
An anonymous blogger’s criticisms of Smyrna, Del. city councilman Patrick Cahill led to an October 2005 ruling by the Delaware Supreme Court that offers significant protection to anonymous online political critics.
Defamation News: Settlement Reached in Price v. Time
On Oct. 19, 2005, Time Inc. announced that it had settled a libel suit filed by Mike Price, former head coach of the University of Alabama football team.
Defamation News: Franklin Prescriptions, Inc. v. New York Times Co.
The New York Times published an article about purchasing prescription drugs over the internet with reckless disregard for its falsity, but is not responsible for damages, the United States District Court of Appeals in the Third Circuit decided on Sept. 12, 2005.
Bill That Would Have Excluded Blogs From FEC Regulation Fails to Gain Votes Necessary for Passage
The House of Representatives voted 225-182 on Nov. 2, 2005 for a bill that would have excluded blogs, e-mails and other Internet communications from regulation by the Federal Election Commission (FEC), but the tally was short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass it in the expedited form Republican leaders were promoting.
Reporters Privilege News: Judith Miller Resigns from The New York Times
Writing in a Nov. 10, 2005 article that she was resigning because “I have become the news, something a New York Times reporter never wants to be,” Judith Miller, the reporter who spent 85 days in jail rather than reveal her confidential sources in the Valerie Plame leak case, ended her 28-year career with the newspaper.
Reporters Privilege News: Shield Law Update
The Free Flow of Information Act of 2005 continues to progress through Congress since its proposal in July 2005, and members of Congress expressed hope throughout the fall that it might pass.
Reporters Privilege News: Judge in McGraw-Hill Case Enforces Rare Administrative Subpoena; Energy Information Publisher Must Turn Over Data
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia directed a reporter to reveal confidential sources on Oct. 4, 2005, and also ordered publisher McGraw-Hill to turn over to government regulators data regarding possible manipulation in the natural gas market.
Citizen Journalists Compete with Major News Outlets
Journalists employed by the New York Times Company, Knight Ridder, and the Associated Press have encountered several million new competitors.
Access to Courts: Rhode Island Discards Controversial Draft Proposed Court Rule
Labeled as a “blanket gag order” by The Providence Journal, Proposed Local Rule of General Application (“PLR Gen.”) 110, court rule that would have affected the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island, has been discarded.
Access to Courts: Cameras in Federal Courtrooms Continue to Spark Debate
United State Supreme Court justices may soon become C-SPAN stars if Congress decides to enact a proposed law that would allow oral arguments to be televised.
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Reveals Little on the First Amendment During Confirmation Hearings
When a First Amendment case comes before the U.S. Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Roberts admits he will have some research to do.
CPB Releases Report on Former Chairman
On Nov. 15, 2005, Kenneth Konz, inspector general of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), released a report detailing his investigation into controversial actions of the CPB’s former chairman, Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, who was accused of interjecting partisan politics into public broadcasting.
FOIA Updates: Bush Issues Executive Order to Increase FOIA “Efficiency”
On Dec. 14, 2005, President Bush issued an executive order directing federal agencies to be more efficient in handling requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
FOIA Updates: ACLU v. Department of Defense
On Sept. 29, 2005, federal district Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein ordered the release of 74 photographs and three videos which showed abuse of prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
Copyright News: File Sharing Sites Lose Legal Battles at Home and Abroad
The peer-to-peer sharing site Grokster shut down in November 2005 after reaching a $50 million settlement with MGM Studios, its adversary in the August 2005 Supreme Court case, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc. v. Grokster 125 S. Ct. 2764 (2005).
Copyright News: Creation of Digital Libraries Raises Copyright Issues
Digital libraries promoted by Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and others both gained prominence and faced criticism in 2005.
Internet Updates: Yahoo Launches Blog to Cover Conflicts Worldwide
Yahoo, the global Internet force, has made another step into journalism with the launching of “Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone,” a Website that began in September 2005 with the self-proclaimed goal of covering every armed conflict in the world within a year.
2005 Silha Lecture Features First Amendment Attorney Floyd Abrams
Journalists have promised confidentiality to sources since before the American Revolution, Floyd Abrams told the audience at the 20th Annual Silha Lecture on Oct. 24, 2005.
Endangered Journalists: Yahoo Assists China in Arresting Journalist
Yahoo admitted in September 2005 that it assisted the Chinese police in identifying a journalist who set up and used an anonymous Yahoo e-mail account to send information that the Chinese government had prohibited to colleagues in New York.
Endangered Journalists: Ukrainian Journalist Murdered
In a chain of events that could rival the complex intrigue of a John Le Carré novel, the Ukrainian government’s 5-year investigation into the 2000 kidnapping and murder of prominent journalist Georgiy Gongadze has reached a milestone.
Student Press News: Ball State Students Win Victory for Public Access
Students working for the Ball State University newspaper, the Ball State Daily News, won a victory in November 2005, when an Indiana state official, known as the Public Access Counselor, declared that they had a right to publish evaluations of final candidates for the University’s Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Student Press News: Florida Alligator Faces Criticism for Cartoon
The Independent Florida Alligator, the University of Florida-Gainesville’s student newspaper, experienced a backlash across campus after publishing a cartoon criticizing remarks rapper Kanye West made during a televised fundraiser on Sept. 2, 2005, attacking President George Bush’s reaction to relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina.
Student Press News: Student Newspaper Involved in Two-Year Hoax
The Southern Illinois University School of Journalism has taken no disciplinary action against students or faculty involved in a two-year hoax about a make-believe soldier and a role-playing little girl whose “daddy” was away at war.
Student Press News: High School Paper Wins Fight to Publish Stories About Homosexual Students
Students at East Bakersfield (Calif.) High School, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, now have the opportunity to publish articles about homosexual students in their school newspaper, The Kernal.
Student Press News: Catholic School Bans Select Blogs
Students at Pope John XXIII Regional High School in Sparta, N.J., have been ordered to remove and cease posting diaries discussing the school or their personal lives on the Internet.
Student Press News: Former Adviser Receives High School Press Freedom Award
Four Texas high school students who challenged the validity of a funding strategy for a program aimed at reducing gang violence in DeSoto High School on Nov. 12, 2005, received the 2005 Courage in Student Journalism Award.