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21st Annual Seminar
Sponsors: The Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association Media Law Committee, the ABA TIPS Media, Privacy and Defamation Law Committee, and University of Kansas School of Law
Contributors: Media/Professional Insurance,The Kansas City Star, First Media Insurance Specialists, Inc., and Universal Press Syndicate
Coordinated by: University of Kansas Continuing Education
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In On Heroes and Hero Worship, Thomas Carlyle wrote in 1841: "Burke said there were Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters’ Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more important far than they all. It is not a figure of speech, or a witty saying; it is a literal fact,— every momentous to us in these times. Literature is our Parliament too. Printing, which comes necessarily out of Writing, I say often, is equivalent to Democracy: invent Writing, Democracy inevitable." This august notion of media as "Fourth Estate" is a foundational tenet of the Bill of Rights borne out by the likes of New York Times v. Sullivan and its progeny. But has the media fallen (or cast itself) from grace? Media critics increasingly eschew Carlyle’s lofty characterization of the media, viewing the media instead as plagued by bias, spin, slant, and unfairness driven largely by private interests and commercial motives rather than the overall public good. Has the media morphed from Fourth Estate to fifth wheel, justifiably subject to restraint and censure because of a failure to police itself against private interests? This year’s seminar, on Friday, April 18, 2008, will focus on this core issue.
Ted Rall is the president of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists. His cartoons have appeared in more than 140 publications. He also has hosted a radio show, published three collections of cartoons, writes a weekly op-ed column, and has written several prose and graphic books. His focus is on issues important to ordinary working people, such as un- and underemployment, the environment and popular culture, but he also comments on political and social trends.
Subject to Supreme Court Rule 803, this course has been approved by the Kansas Continuing Legal Education Commission for a maximum of 7 CLE credit hours, including 1 hour of ethics.
The Missouri, California and New York CLE Commissions have approved 7 hours of continuing legal education credit.
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