Journalism ethics, communication law, newsroom diversity, libel, free speech, First Amendment theory, urban issues coverage, privacy, indecency and obscenity, censorship, press coverage of trials and the law, police sketches, racial profiling
Additional Information:
John C. Watson was a top-five finalist for the Scripps Howard Foundation Journalism Teacher of the Year Award (2009) and is the author of the chapter on regulating pornography in Communication and the Law (Edited by W. Wat Hopkins, 2010). His book Journalism Ethics by Court Decree(2008) examines how court rulings are defining the practice of journalism. He is researching the merits of licensing journalists, is coauthor of a forthcoming book that examines the changing role of journalists of color, and has conducted a study that questions the ethics of using police sketches of crime suspects in the news media. He has written "Litigation Public Relations: The Lawyers' Duty to Balance News Coverage of Their Clients" (Communication Law and Policy ); "Defamation by Racial Misidentification: A Study of the Social Tort" (Rutgers Race and the Law Review); "Times v. Sullivan: Landmark or Land Mine on the Road to Ethical Journalism?" (Journal of Mass Media Ethics); and was coauthor of "Herman Lynn Womack: Pornographer as First Amendment Pioneer" (Journalism History).
Foreign Language Fluency:
n/a
Academic Credentials:
BA, Rutgers University–New Brunswick; JD, Rutgers School of Law; PhD in mass communication/journalism, University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill
Category:
Journalism, Law-Constitutional Law, Law-Courts, Social Issues-Urban Affairs