COM Law, Ethics, and Diversity

Ethics are in many professions. For this post we will focus on ethics in journalism. The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) have a few "rules" that journalists should follow to have the best work. Those rules are seek the truth and report it, minimize harm, act independently, be accountable and transparent. There are many case studies that deal with these rules. The one that I will be discussing is about Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant died back in in January of 2020 at the age of 41. A lot of people loved Kobe Bryant and after his death a lot of people praised him and everything that he had accomplished. Many people took to social media to talk about how much they will miss Kobe and how he had impacted their lives. Felicia Sonmez was a reporter for The Washington Post and only hours after Kobe's death she tweeted an article from 2003 about sexual allegations against Kobe. Now the question about this post is, is there a limit to truth telling? How long (if at all)should a...

  What is moral thinking? This is when people decide between right and wrong and how they will apply those moral rules. With Rest's Four Component model, it gives you the process that goes through your mind while you're making a decision. There is moral sensitivity, moral judgement, moral motivation, and moral character. Moral sensitivity involves how the situation is interpreted and who it affects, as well as what could be the possible outcome. Moral judgement involves deciding between the options in the situation and choosing the most moral one. Moral motivation is when the person gives their full attention to the situation and fulfill their moral value. Moral character is when you combine your ego strength with your social/psychological skills to carry out the situation. These components go more in depth on this document.  The Four Component model is very useful for when you are deciding on a certain situation. It helps you to weigh all of your options and helps you pick th...

  Ethics is how people behave in society. When people decide to either do the good or the bad thing. Everyone knows the golden rule, treat others the way that you want to be treated. In ethics there are different approaches. In this post we will be discussing the utilitarian approach. This approach is when there are two choices, and you choose the choice that will produce the greatest balance and benefits. A great example of this approach is by Jeremy Bentham. He advocated for the rights of animals when there were no laws protecting animals from cruelty. He advocated for improving the conditions of prisoners and the poor.  Utilitarian's advocate for rights that have the best benefit for society. This approach is very simple and straight to the point. The utilitarian approach is practical because you choose between two answer choices, and you pick the most beneficial one. In ethics, this approach is one of the easier ones to understand fully. Ethics plays a huge role in our soc...

Trademark infringement is an unauthorized use of a trademark with goods and services. The trademark infringement case that I will be discussing is Louis Vuitton V. Louis Vuitton Dak. As most people know, Louis Vuitton is a famous fashion brand. They are very well known for their distinct designs on their purses and wallets. A fried chicken place in South Korea was accused of trademark infringement for having a similar name and similar packaging logo to the original Louis Vuitton. On the IPRStudio website it states, "Although both the business operated in different market segments, as one was a highly reputed trademark the other cannot be allowed to use that and take undue advantage for it." So even though this place sold fried chicken and the real Louis Vuitton is a fashion brand it is still trademark infringement. Louis Vuitton Dak did not ask to use the similar name or logo on their packaging. This case is a great example of trademark infringement. Louis Vuitton Dak lost t...

  Defamation is speaking (slander) or writing (libel) something that is false and can ruin some ones reputation that they have. There are many court cases that deal with defamation. Many of which involve celebrities and important public figures. The case that I will be discussing is Keira Knightley V. The Daily Mail. The Daily Mail wrote an article in 2007 about a young girl who died from an eating disorder and used a picture of Keira in a bathing suit showing her slim physique. On the Elawtalk website it says, "The title of the article sporting the photograph was 'If pictures like this one of Keira carried a health warning, my darling daughter might have lived.'" This article claimed that Keira Knightley has anorexia and is part of the reason that the girl died from this eating disorder. Keira denied the allegations that she suffered from anorexia and that she just has a smaller physique. She sued The Daily Mail and won. She donated all of the money to an eating dis...

  Now you would normally think that freedom of speech is allowed for everyone and it should be. Sadly, this is not the case for certain college athletes. In 2017, college football player, Donald De La Haye was removed from the UCF football team and no longer received any of his scholarships. Now you may be asking, why was he removed from the team? The reasoning he was removed was of what he posted on his own social media accounts. So he was removed from the team for practicing his right of freedom of speech. Donald went to UCF on scholarships to play football. He was an amazing athlete who loved to make social media videos. Donald's following started growing and soon enough he had many followers on all of his accounts. On the Goldwater Institute website it states, "In the summer of 2017, UCF summarily removed Donald from its football team and rescinded his scholarship due to his monetized use of his own name and likeness on his social media accounts." The NCAA have some ...