Journalists and the Law
Module 1, Activity 3.2 - Libel and the Law
Teacher Page
(student page for this lesson)

Activities:

Task One - Listening about Libel
Students view a Saskatchewan journalist talking about the legal issues involved in being a journalist. While listening, they respond to the following:

1. Who is the speaker?
2. What makes the speaker qualified to speak on this subject?
3. What did the speaker define libel as?
   
   After viewing they respond to:
4. Why is libel an issue for journalists?
5. How do journalists change their practices because of the issue of libel?
6. Who makes the final decision about whether a story can be printed?

When students are doing tasks designed to build skills like listening to understand and learn, consistency of the questions designed to monitor learning is key. Students need to understand fundamentals like the fact that some people are better sources of information on a topic than others are. Questions like "What makes the speaker qualified to speak on this subject?" establish the concept of authority. When these questions are repeated in several exercises, the concept becomes a basic precept of listening to learn.

Task Two - A Case Study
For this activity, students need to select a major newspaper such as the National Post or the Globe and Mail. These networks have sites that are searchable. Students should look for a case within the last 5 years that involves journalism and libel.

Students read about the case and find the key facts about it. They record the 5w's of the case.

Objectives:

Students will be able to
- understand the concepts of libel and slander.
- listen to understand and learn.
- understand the legal limitations on the media.
- understand the rights and responsibilities of the press.

Task Two Continued. . .

Ask students to present the cases they have found until you have about 5 cases to work with. Record the 5w's of each case on the board. Have students try to think of common elements in the cases. As a group, create a definition of libel and make a list of common elements in the cases the class found. Have students record the concepts they have attained in their notebooks.

If you need students to review the 5W's and how they are used in the news, review the student version of Lesson 2.3.

Assessment and Evaluation:

If your students have had several opportunities to listen and make notes, now would be a good opportunity to gauge continued progress. A sample version of an assessment for note taking might be used from an earlier lesson. When students hand in their notes from this day, their note taking skills could be compared using an assessment device which records several instances of skills.

Since a teacher needs to see instances of successful acquisition of skills, this lesson in particular need not be assessed or graded.