Fox News host Greta Van Susteren will lead a discussion of the changing relationship between the law and the media as The Florida Bar’s Media & Communication Law Committee convenes its 2007 Media Law Conference.
The June 1 conference at the Tampa Law Center of Stetson University is open to attorneys, reporters and other representatives of the news media, judges and court staff. The conference also plays host to The Florida Bar’s 52nd Annual Media Awards. The awards recognize outstanding reporting in the print and electronic media that furthers the discussion of civil justice issues or increases the public’s understanding of the legal system.
The conference will continue discussion of the “False Light” Doctrine, which gained momentum following a ruling in a Pensacola News Journal case. A second test case currently is pending.
Other topics include “Media in the Hot Seat—When Reporters Become the News,” “Without a Trace—Super-Sealed Court Records” and “Florida Sunshine Laws and Electronic Records.” Gov. Charlie Crist (invited) and FloridaDepartment of Children and Families Secretary Bob Butterworth — two of Government in the Sunshine’s most vocal advocates — will discuss their respective open government initiatives.
Conference co-chair Craig Waters, who heads up the public information office at the Florida Supreme Court, said that since the introduction of the 24-hour news network in the 1980s and the media coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial in the 1990s, the law and the inner workings of the legal system have become a matter of increased public interest.
“We’re starting to see lawsuits and court cases become infotainment,” said Waters. “There is a point in time when a trial becomes not just a news item but an entertainment item.”
Waters also noted that reporters are increasingly becoming the topic of news reports with the proliferation of reporters being subpoenaed.
Continuing education and certification credits are available to attending attorneys. A special discount off the cost of conference tuition is available to representatives of the news media.
For more information, contact the Stetson University Office of Conferences and events at (813) 228-0226 or visit www.floridabar.org.
— Courtesy The Florida Bar