Postgraduate Course: International and European Media Law (LAWS11347)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The course will start with a discussion of the nature of the media, the media value chain, and the relationship between media freedom, freedom of expression and other human rights.
It will examine the various international organisations competent in the media field and the regulatory strategies that are being adopted to deal with media convergence and globalisation. In relation to structural matters, consideration will be given to consolidation of media ownership and state funding of the media, in particular public service broadcasting. In relation to content controls, the course will examine attempts to create a more equitable flow of media content and concerns over media imperialism, the regulatory problems posed by pornography and hate speech and the balance to be struck between freedom of the media and privacy.
Students should attain a good understanding of the interplay between domestic and international law in this field, as well as the role of soft law and self or private regulation. They will be encouraged to think about the future role of law and regulation in a rapidly changing media environment. |
| Course description |
1. Freedom of Speech vs. Freedom of the Media
This seminar will introduce students to key international human rights conventions and the emerging practice relating to freedom of expression in the digital domain. They will also be encouraged to take a comparative approach and consider the level of protection offered to the media in different national and regional contexts. This first session will also introduce the composite nature of media law as a discrete field of law, the traditionally different and industry-specific regulatory approaches to the printed press and broadcasting, the digital revolution of the 2000s, and where we are today.
2. ¿Do We Know a Medium When We See One¿? Protecting Media Independence in the Digital Era
With the advent of digital media in the early 2000s, the very notion of mass media has become increasingly contested and its boundaries uncertain: after a first wave of enthusiasm for the democratising force of new media and citizen journalism (largely coinciding with the aftermath of the Arab Spring) and judicial recognition of journalism and its legal protection as a function rather than a status, the disillusionment of the last decade has brought about a resurgence of the centrality of the notion of institutional media. Recent legal frameworks such as the EU Media Freedom Act, the Digital Services Act, and the UK¿s Online Safety Act, with their ¿media exceptions¿, suggest a need to rethink how to protect media independence in the online environment.
3. Structural Regulation I: Media Pluralism and Captured Online Information Spaces
This seminar will consider the traditional issue of media pluralism and how its focus has shifted from competition-focused concerns to a multifaceted understanding that includes, for instance, domains such as political independence and social inclusiveness. We will then discuss the new incarnation of pluralism as one of the main emerging challenges that journalism and media freedom face in a digital information ecosystem dominated by Big Tech platforms that shape how information is produced, prioritised, disseminated, and monetised.
4. Structural Regulation II: From Public Service Broadcasting to Public Service Media
What were the original rationales for public service broadcasting and what guidance is there at the international level for state support for public service media in the digital age? Students will be encouraged to experiment with time-lines to plot show key stages in the evolution of this concept. The seminar will consider PSB models in a comparative perspective and the controversial nature of state aid regulation in the EU context. Could PSB be problematic also from a WTO perspective?
5. Content regulation I: Hate Speech
In this and the following seminars, we will examine the legitimacy of restrictions on media freedom in order to protect individuals from harm or achieve other social objectives. The first of such seminars will discuss the case of hate speech, discussing the boundaries of this notion, whether it should be a limit to media freedom, and the responsibilities of digital platforms for moderating it.
6. Content regulation II: Disinformation
This seminar will discuss disinformation and the challenges it raises for media freedom: how can disinformation be regulated while respecting editorial freedom? This is a very difficult question, especially given that disinformation is normally not illegal content per se. The seminar will also serve as a case study for experimenting with policy and regulatory toolkits and discussing who should establish the relevant standards: state or international authorities? The public sector or industry self-regulation? Journalists or digital platforms that help disseminate their content?
7. Content Regulation III: media freedom vs. the right to reputation
Among the most common limitations on media freedom are the so-called personality rights (i.e. the rights to reputation and privacy), which individuals can invoke to restrain publication. This seminar will explore the right to reputation, with particular attention to SLAPPs (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation), a form of litigation abuse by powerful figures to silence journalism.
8. Content regulation IV: media freedom vs the right to privacy
We will explore the potential conflict between the public¿s right to know and the individual¿s right to be ¿left alone¿. We will consider the central role of the ECtHR in developing European principles in this area, and the role of the EU in developing the right to be forgotten. We will also discuss the particular interplay between journalism and data protection: the GDPR includes a ¿journalism exemption¿, but its effectiveness is often disputed, and we will consider together how this represents a new emerging conflict between fundamental rights in the practice of journalism.
9. Content regulation V: politically-compelled speech
This final seminar will consider the nature of 'government speech', the regulation of electoral campaigns; including the fairness doctrine and equal-time rules; and the case of 'diversity quotas'.
10. Review Session and Skills Evaluation
In this final session we will return to some of the main themes of the course and identify the knowledge and skills that you have been developing in your study.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2026/27, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 26 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Summative Assessment:
(* Component marks contribute to student's overall course mark/grade. The aim of summative assessments is to assess student learning).
1) 3500 Word Essay (60%)
2) 1500 Word Blog (40%) on a topic of the student's choice
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| Feedback |
Each course will provide the opportunity for at least one piece of formative assessment with associated feedback. This will be provided within an appropriate timescale to enable students to learn from this prior to the summative assessment.
For the formative assessment, each student will be required to prepare a short summary and evaluative note (no more than 500 words) on a case or article to be posted on the course discussion forum prior to the seminar and to briefly summarise their findings to the group at the seminar. Feedback on strengths and weaknesses ¿ clarity, referencing and evaluative aspects - will be given to the student on their oral and written presentation. Students will be allocated their assigned topic in the first week of the course.
Feedback on both formative and summative in-course assessed work will be provided in time to be of use in subsequent assessments within the course.
Feedback on the summative assessment will be provided in written form via Learn, the University of Edinburgh's Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).
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| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Attain a good understanding of the interplay between domestic and international law in in the media field, as well as the role of soft law and self or private regulation.
- Demonstrate familiarity with the role of key international organisations such as the WTO, UN/UNESCO, EU and Council of Europe in the media field.
- Understand the major challenges facing regulators as a result of globalisation and convergence and will have developed a legal framework for analysing a number of key topical issues in relating to both the content and structure of media markets, notably media ownership, media imperialism, the protection of privacy and child protection.
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Reading List
*Oster, J., European and International Media Law, (Cambridge University Press 2017)
Keller, P., European and International Media Law (Oxford 2011)
Barendt, Bosland, Craufurd Smith and Hitchens, Media Law, Text Cases and Materials (Palgrave 2014)
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Knowledge and Understanding:
- Students should attain a good understanding of the interplay between domestic and international law in in the media field, as well as the role of soft law and self or private regulation.
- They should be familiar with the role of key international organisations such as the WTO, UN/UNESCO, EU and Council of Europe in the media field.
- They will understand the major challenges facing regulators as a result of globalisation and convergence and will have developed a legal framework for analysing a number of key topical issues in relating to both the content and structure of media markets, notably media ownership, media imperialism, the protection of privacy and child protection.
Skills and Abilities in Research and Enquiry:
The course aims to further develop students' abilities and skills in respect of:
- Use of legal materials and legal reasoning;
- Appreciation of law in its context;
- Evaluation and criticism of law;
- Legal research and intellectual skills of collecting, organising, evaluating and synthesising material and arguments.
- Development of these skills will be supported through the mid-term blog assessment and final essay as well oral discussion and critical evaluation of their research in the seminars.
Skills and Abilities in Personal and Intellectual Autonomy:
- Students will be encouraged to take forward their own research project in the form of a blog and will be set independent research tasks in selected seminars;
- Students will thus be required to develop their skills in managing time, working independently and taking responsibility for their own work.
Skills and Abilities in Communication:
- Students will be expected to develop their communication skills, oral and writing - both in preparing course assignments and in engaging actively in seminar discussions and on the course forum. Feedback will be given on these skills.
Skills and Abilities in Personal Effectiveness:
- Students will be encouraged to develop their skills in managing time, working independently and in groups, and taking responsibility for their own work.
Technical/practical Skills:
- Students will develop a technical and practical understanding of the international framework for media regulation.
- They will gain a good factual knowledge of the field and an understanding of key principles and regulatory techniques.
- They will know how to analyse and apply this knowledge to concrete problems, taking into account the technical and political context, central in the media field. They will be able to communicate this information clearly and effectively.
- These skills will be useful for subsequent employment in private legal practice, for work with domestic and international civil society and regulatory organisations and in the media sector itself. |
| Keywords | IP,Innovation,Technology,Media Law,LLM,Level 11,Postgraduate,Law |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Paolo Cavaliere
Tel: (0131 6)51 5137
Email: Paolo.Cavaliere@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Hannah Ackroyd
Tel: (0131 6)50 2008
Email: hackroyd@ed.ac.uk |
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