Brief #5: Reporter's Privilege

After publishing a series pertaining to inmates who committed suicide while serving their time in the San Diego County Jail for the San Diego City Beat, freelance journalist Kelly Davis was approached several times to discuss the release of her research. "For the period of 2007 through 2012, San Diego County had the highest mortality rate than any other large county in California,” Davis said. Upon reviewing "How many inmate deaths is too many?" and the tragic circumstances that were covered about the terrible conditions of the convicts, it is no wonder why the city would want to protect it's reputation. Although it was requested that the charges be dismissed, one Judge had opposing views and claimed that "the county should have been on alert by news reports and anecdotes surrounding jail deaths." The Judge also noted that "Davis’ stories had put the county on notice about its 'inadequate suicide prevention policies and training' and that her exposé had revealed a 'pattern of constitutional violations' by jail personnel.'"

Davis was later interviewed by NBC 7 Investigates about her harassment from the court. She told reports that she was "terrified" and "shaking" due to the suffocation of a supposed legal obligation that she had to giving her work away. She figured that all of the attention she had gained had to be a form of intimidation. She then told NBC 7 Investigates that her team will be arguing that "this information is available from other sources." Meaning that all if the information that she possessed was secondary, and that there is no need for them to hover her. There was an instance where the court recognized their possible logic flaws with ruling a court order. According to the NBC 7 Investigates, “It is plausible that if the County had reacted to the prior suicide incidents by implementing an appropriate suicide prevention policy or by remedying the alleged custom of indifference, Kris’s (an inmate of San Diego County) suicidal ideations would not have been ignored,” which was stated in the Judge's ruling. But Davis's opening claim in her interview, "These are all human beings worthy of redemption.", highlights the personal rights of not only the knowledge of her audience but of the inmates being avenged after their traumas.

In the United States, reporters are protected by the First Amendment and through statutory law from being forced to attest confidential information or sources. Despite the courts attempts to cipher Davis's work, the court should be familiar with California's Privilege Compendium. Kelly Davis disclosed her findings exclusively with the San Diego City Beat which is protected legally under California's reporter's privilege.

Since this case also shows conflict within the freedom of press, it should be common knowledge that a reporter has certain liberties when receiving and distributing information. Although the city could have felt threatened or could have been discontented from the possible damage, there is not much they can do about public information being brought forth. Davis included in her statement that “you want journalists to be free to do their stories and to gather their research, talk to their sources, without worrying that someone is looking over their shoulder”.

Brief #4: Plagiarism and Fabrication

Sometimes even the most creative and iconic people in the entertainment business make unforgivable mistakes that we never would have seen coming. Recently, two of Top Dawg Entertainment's (TDE) flagship artists, Kendrick Lamar and SZA, captured the magnifying essence of Africa and fine artistry into one of the soundtracks for Marvel's "Black Panther". The music video to the song "All the Stars" debuted on February 9th , 2018 and is now trending with over 19 million views on YouTube. But, while a majority of the world was riding the #BlackExcellence fan wave, a few of the viewers felt uneasy about some of the content displayed.

On February 12, 2018, Independent News reported accusations of Kendrick Lamar plagiarizing the artwork of British-Liberian artist Lina Iris Viktor. Viktor is known for her usage of a black, white, and blue color palette accompanied with 24 karat gold to create minimalist and black influenced art. It is easy to see how she would have been recruited for this strongly depicted production, but unfortunately Viktor's permission was not given to TDE in any way nor is she happy about her surprise contributions. In fact in an interview with New York Times, Viktor emphatically explains that this is "an ethical issue, because what the whole film purports is that it's about black empowerment, African excellence - that's the whole concept of the story. And at the same time they're stealing from African artists." Independent News also featured another article from Okay Africa where, unware of this scandal, they "noted: 'The work and influence of British-Liberian artist Lina Iris Viktor can be clearly spotted.'

The conceptual & performance artist and painter was contacted not once but twice by the DDA  on behalf of Marvel & Disney to exhibit her work for promotion, but she respectfully declined the offers due to their demands that she "enter into an exclusive license for the proposed artworks, thereby forgoing all artistic control" according to The Economic Times. For some, the principle is more valuable than the compensation. The artwork is said to be a milestone for Viktor's career. Not only is she bold with her presentation, she is not one to let up on her moral status explaining that "cultural appropriation is something that continually happens to African-American artists, and I want to make a stand."

Kendrick Lamar, SZA - "All the Stars" 
Video by KendrickLamarVEVO

A 19-second segment (starting at the 2:59 mark) “that incorporates not just the immediately-identifiable and unique look of her work, but also many of the specific copyrightable elements in the ‘Constellations’ series of paintings, including stylized motifs of mythical animals, gilded geometric forms on a black background, and distinctively textured areas and patterns, arrayed in a grid-like arrangement of forms.

Brief #3: Advertising Ethics

The two main things come to every consumer's mind when purchasing products: quality and quantity.  Very often you will see commercials, ploys, and ads that promote something that will save you from whatever dilemma you may be in. This is in fact the sole purpose of advertising; they make money by filling your voids. But, how important are these shopping aspects if the product you receive is not exactly what it was said to be?

Hungry? Nine times out of 10 we have all seen a McDonald's commercial right when your stomach was at the verge of touching your back.  You saw the succulent, reheated, mystery meat patties topped with crunchy-crisp, refrigerated vegetables and cheese all unified under a possibly cross-contaminated sesame-seed bun. The advertising was in HD so you could see every dapple of flavor glisten. From prior experience, you might could have been able to conjure the aroma of the sandwich in all of its glory. You envision your next meal as you roll up to the drive-thru window and they hand you the paper bag with those familiar smells. You look inside of the bag, anxiously pull out your burger only to find it looking like this:

A sloppily-made, dry-looking, and probably cold reality.

Fast-food phenomena have led their customers into deception for years. However, it has not stopped them from gaining credibility on their abilities to at least satisfy enough for a return. Here is why…

McDonald's excels in the visual aspect of marketing. In their commercials and advertising, they provide a relatable, warm, home-like feel to eating. The catchy jingle and golden arches are an international stamp for the company that help keep it worldwide, and their children's merchandise help keep the younger demand up and the family theme alive all at affordable price ranges.

Brief #2: Supermarket Tabloids

Imagine it's 2010 and you are pushing your grocery cart through the aisles of your local supermarket. There is only one or two people in line for register 5, so you roll up behind a lady on her phone with about $200 worth of groceries and a child in her cart. As you settle yourself in line, in your head you say, "This is going to be a while.", roll your eyes, and they land on a boldly titled magazine that reads:

All of a sudden you start to wonder if love was ever real and why life now seems so meaningless. If you were fangirling over Twilight along with the rest of the world at this time, your heart would have dropped and you would have been compelled to pick up this issue to find out why. Seeing this today, however, would have practically no meaning realizing that the last movie of the series debuted 6 years ago and the very first movie celebrates a decade in November. Realism and timing are powerful tools in tabloid marketing. The strategy of a tabloid is to monetize the ignorance of their audience by spiking your curiosity and need to stay updated. They keep up with popular celebrities and latest trending situations in order to bring gossip and rumors to life. 

Usually you can find several tabloids posted in the front of the store commonly around the cash register where almost every consumer in the building is held dormant before their final purchase. This increases the chances of impulse buying by appealing to the senses (hearing, sight, touch, taste, smell). This marketing strategy works in several departments that would normally be irrelevant to grocery shopping. This is why tabloid newspapers would mimic the formula of candy, chips, drinks, and other easy to pick-up items with bold letters, bright colors, and familiar symbols to draw you in.

It could be surprising to one who has never bought a tabloid magazine that they are still a grocery store staple, but according to an article from The Sun, "tabloid journalism [is] a [documentation] of human voices, capturing the unpredictable and unexpected rhythms of life and existence in lucid and crisp prose." News in itself was created from a wanting that needed to be filled. In current society, the urge for detailed entertainment is present on an extremely personal level. People love the optimism behind the life of fame, and often use it as inspiration for their own lives or at least how they wish they could be. Actually the power an audience can feel behind knowing a celebrity's every move goes as deep as why they should provide this person a fanbase and making or breaking their career. The internet, of course, is a huge competitor to the supermarket tabloid base just as it is for most paper/offline products. A recent update from The Guardian states that "increases in online readership have offset the loss of print readers. According to a Newsworks press release, national newspapers jointly enjoyed a 16% year-on-year uplift across digital platforms, giving them a total of 31.5m unique browsers daily across the month of December 2016." Although there is still a print fanbase, it is very likely that print publication could fold altogether under the digital presence of news.