Law Commons^™

A Free Press Without Democracy, Erin C. Carroll

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

For several decades, the American press has been fighting for its economic survival. But while it has been consumed with this effort, the political threat to a free press has grown perhaps greater than the economic one. Democracy is eroding globally, including in the United States. Given the importance of a free press to democracy, the press needs to more urgently consider how it maintains its freedom as erosion persists.

This Article sets out a framework for American press priorities in this pivotal moment. It suggests that to resist and weather a turn to autocracy, the press must endeavor to …

Obstruction Of Journalism, Erin C. Carroll

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Identifying oneself as press used to be a near-grant of immunity. It meant safer passage through all manner of dangerous terrain. But today, being recognizable as a journalist may be more likely to make one a target.

Physical attacks against journalists in the United States increased nearly 1,300 percent in 2020. The rate of online violence against journalists is also soaring. This violence is aimed almost entirely at women, people of color, non-Christians, and non-straight journalists. It silences voices already relegated to the edges. Rather than letting our national conversation branch, the violence attempts to shear it to a white, …

How We Talk About The Press, Erin C. Carroll

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In 2017, the term “fake news” was so popular that it received the “Word of the Year” honor from the American Dialect Society. Since then, its popularity may have abated some, but its use persists. Most obviously, anti-press speakers weaponize the term fake news to undermine journalists and the press as an institution. Perhaps more surprisingly, however, the term is also in regular rotation among many who would seem to support a free and independent press, including scholars, teachers, and journalists themselves.

The continued and often-uncritical use of fake news should worry us. As thinkers across disciplines have recognized for …

Making News: Balancing Newsworthiness And Privacy In The Age Of Algorithms, Erin C. Carroll

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In deciding privacy lawsuits against media defendants, courts have for decades deferred to the media. They have given it wide berth to determine what is newsworthy and so, what is protected under the First Amendment. And in doing so, they have often spoken reverently of the editorial process and journalistic decision-making.

Yet, in just the last several years, news production and consumption has changed dramatically. As we get more of our news from digital and social media sites, the role of information gatekeeper is shifting from journalists to computer engineers, programmers, and app designers. The algorithms that the latter write …

What Makes A Homepage Effective – Aals 2014 Presentation, Leslie R. Steinberg, Steven Barnes, Roger Skalbeck

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

As the approach to website development is constantly evolving to accommodate the latest technology, what are the best practices in law school home page design? Speakers will include Roger Skalbeck, author of the annual "Top 10 Law School Home Pages" ranking, who will explain the methodology, analysis and trends related to the study, and Steven Barnes, who will share the award-winning approach used at Penn Law to earn accolades from key constituencies, tie for #1 in “The Top 10 Home Pages” and earn a 2013 Webby People’s Voice Award.

Platform Selection And Strategic Alignment – Fall 2013 Symposium Presentation, Roger Skalbeck

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Whether providing services or resources, every library is faced with questions of selecting the right resource for the right reason. You need a website, a process for updating content, a way to manage operations, and a system for responding to constant change. Increasingly, new service opportunities are found in cloud and virtual platforms. This presentation looks at opportunities in selecting the right tools for the right job. The presentation will explore some unique aspects of law libraries and legal subject content many libraries rely on, including the strategic value of content from law libraries in metropolitan areas.

Top 10 Law School Home Pages Of 2012, Roger V. Skalbeck, Matthew L. Zimmerman

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

For a fourth consecutive year, every website home page of every ABA-accredited law school is evaluated and ranked based on objective criteria. The goal is to identify well-executed sites adopting best practices. For the 2012 report, twenty-six elements are evaluated across these three categories: Design Patterns and Metadata, Accessibility and Validation, & Marketing and Communications. For 2012, there are four new elements, two prior elements have been combined, and one element was dropped.

For 2012, forty-six schools now use the HTML5 doctype, which is up from thirteen in 2011 and just one in 2010. Eighteen schools achieve perfect scores in …

Tech Innovation In The Academy, Roger Skalbeck

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

If today’s law students are going to become effective users of technology tools, law schools need to prepare them for more than just tomorrow’s legal practice. At Georgetown, we have come to the realization that we need to prepare students for legal practice 10 years from now. This article provides a look at ways several law schools help students develop technology skills and prepare for future law practice, incorporating examples and lessons learned from teaching the course “Technology, Innovation and Law Practice.” It presents concrete ideas for law students to understand and appreciate the potential of technology to transform legal …

National Security In The Information Age, Rosa Brooks

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The information environment has been changing right along with the broader security environment. Today, the information environment connects almost everyone, almost everywhere, almost instantaneously. The media environment has become global, and there’s no longer such thing as “the news cycle” —everything is 24/7. Barriers between US and global publics have virtual disappeared: Everything and anything can “go viral” instantly, and it’s no longer possible to say one thing to a US audience and another thing to a foreign audience and assume no one will ever set the statements side by side. The Pakistani military has a very clear idea of …

Top 10 Law School Home Pages Of 2011, Roger Skalbeck

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

For the third consecutive year, the website home pages for all ABA-accredited law schools are evaluated and ranked based on objective criteria. For 2011, law school home pages advanced in some areas. For instance, there are now thirteen sites using the HTML5 doctype, up from a single site in 2010. In addition, seventeen schools achieved a perfect score for three tests focused on website accessibility, up from eight in 2010. Nonetheless, there’s enough diversity in coding practices and content to help separate the great from the good.

For this year’s survey, twenty-four elements of each home page are assessed across …