Preface
As academics who teach media law and as specialist lawyers who work in the community legal centre sector as well as with media professionals we recognise the need for a concise teaching text and reference work on Australian media and communications law. This is a practical, issues based book, which includes reflective teaching materials for students and ready-reference material for practitioners.
Many law texts approach their subject matter by placing content into 'silos' based on legal causes of action. This approach seems very rational from the point of view of law, but it makes less sense to practitioners who find that their regulatory issues can never be divided into neat legal labels. This is particularly the case in media law where one statement or image can give rise to multiple causes of action, none of which may actually be consistent with the concerns of the aggrieved person. Our approach is to provide an overview of these silos as well as the regulatory framework in Chapter 1 and then use that knowledge throughout the book to contextualise and critically examine the law's response to social problems in media and communications law.
Our text is consistent with more contemporary views on regulation. Rather than emphasise litigation, which proves the exception rather than the rule, we wish to situate regulation in the context of everyday life and reflective practice for media professionals. The trend in regulation of the media and communications industries is towards self or co-regulation, and every professional makes many regulatory decisions every day before and usually without their work ever reaching the point of legal consultation. We want to examine these decisions and encourage practitioners to critically reflect on their relationship with legal and regulatory systems.
Scott would like to thank Nik and Meng for their support and patience during the writing of this book. He would also like to acknowledge his spiritual sensei, the Kame Sen'nin, especially for his influence on Chapter 8.
Elizabeth would like to thank Bridget and Robert Beal, Lisa de Ferrari, Kim Weatherall, Robert Todd, Derek Wilding and all past and present staff and volunteers at the Communications Law Centre at Victoria University for their support, which has enabled the writing of this book.
Many law texts approach their subject matter by placing content into 'silos' based on legal causes of action. This approach seems very rational from the point of view of law, but it makes less sense to practitioners who find that their regulatory issues can never be divided into neat legal labels. This is particularly the case in media law where one statement or image can give rise to multiple causes of action, none of which may actually be consistent with the concerns of the aggrieved person. Our approach is to provide an overview of these silos as well as the regulatory framework in Chapter 1 and then use that knowledge throughout the book to contextualise and critically examine the law's response to social problems in media and communications law.
Regulation: In this book the term regulation is used fairly broadly to includes not only legal regulation (legislation, case law and local regulations) but also forms of self regulation and self governance that occur in media industries and among individuals.
Our text is consistent with more contemporary views on regulation. Rather than emphasise litigation, which proves the exception rather than the rule, we wish to situate regulation in the context of everyday life and reflective practice for media professionals. The trend in regulation of the media and communications industries is towards self or co-regulation, and every professional makes many regulatory decisions every day before and usually without their work ever reaching the point of legal consultation. We want to examine these decisions and encourage practitioners to critically reflect on their relationship with legal and regulatory systems.
Co-Regulation: Refers to an approach to regulation that relies on both industry and the profession to self manage their behaviour within the construct of a framework established by law (for example, telecommunications industry). In crude terms, co-regulation can be said to represent the intersection of the legal and the ethical.
Self regulation: A regulatory system that is managed by the industry, usually by a peak body, of which many industry players are members—for example, MEAA, Press Council.
Self regulation: A regulatory system that is managed by the industry, usually by a peak body, of which many industry players are members—for example, MEAA, Press Council.
Scott would like to thank Nik and Meng for their support and patience during the writing of this book. He would also like to acknowledge his spiritual sensei, the Kame Sen'nin, especially for his influence on Chapter 8.
Elizabeth would like to thank Bridget and Robert Beal, Lisa de Ferrari, Kim Weatherall, Robert Todd, Derek Wilding and all past and present staff and volunteers at the Communications Law Centre at Victoria University for their support, which has enabled the writing of this book.