Skip to main content
Home

Information for:

  • Alumni
  • Applicants
  • Current Students
  • Staff
  • Parents
  • Job Vacancies
  • Covid-19
  • Cymraeg
My country:

Main Menu

    • Study Options
      • Study Home
      • Why Study at Bangor?
      • Undergraduate Study
      • Postgraduate Taught Study
      • Postgraduate Research
      • Part-time Courses
      • January Start Courses
      • Degree Apprenticeships
      • Study Abroad
      • Work Experience
    • Study Advice
      • Apply
      • Already Applied?
      • Fees and Finances
      • Scholarships and Bursaries
      • Get Ready for University
    • Explore Bangor
      • Open Days and Visits
      • Virtual Student Experience

    Find a Course

    Order a Prospectus

    • Student Life
      • Student Life Home
      • Bangor and the Area
      • Social Life and Entertainment
      • Accommodation
      • Clubs and Societies
      • Sport
      • Virtual Student Experience
    • Your Experience at Bangor
      • Student Support
      • Skills and Employability
      • Study or Work Abroad
      • Fees and Finances

    Student Profiles

    Student Videos and Vlogs

    • Choose Bangor
      • International Home
      • Why Bangor?
      • Location
      • Accommodation
      • Student Support
      • Contact Us
    • Apply
      • Entry Requirements
      • Tuition Fees and Scholarships
      • How to Apply
      • Already Applied
      • Study Abroad
      • Exchanges

    Country Specific Information

    Join us on a Virtual Open Day

    Bangor University International College

    Covid-19 Information

    • Research
      • Research Home
      • About Our Research
      • Research in our Academic Schools
      • Research Institutes and Centres
      • Research Portal
      • Research, Innovation and Impact Office (RIIO)
      • Energy
      • Research News
    • Postgraduate Research Opportunities
      • Postgraduate Research
      • Doctoral School
    • Events and Training Opportunities
      • Researcher Development
    • The University
      • About Us
      • Our Mission
      • Strategy 2030
      • Annual Review
      • Our Location
      • Academic Schools and Colleges
      • Services and Facilities
      • Vice Chancellor’s Office
      • Working with Business
      • Working with the Community
      • Sustainability
      • Health and Wellbeing
      • Contact Us
    • Working for Us
      • Job Vacancies
    • University Management and Governance
      • Policies and Procedures
      • Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement
      • Management and Governance
    • University and the Community
      • Pontio
      • Sports Facilities
      • Conference Facilities
      • Places to Eat and Drink
      • Public Events
      • Widening Access
      • Services to Schools
    • Business Services
      • Business Services Home
    • Collaboration Hub
      • Collaboration Hub
      • Funding for Collaborative Research and Development (R&D) & Innovation
      • Business Facilities and Networks
      • Consultancy, Specialist Expertise and Knowledge
      • Commercialisation and Intellectual Property (IP)
      • Student Placements and Internships in Business & Enterprise
      • Training and Continuing Professional Development
      • Degree Apprenticeships
    • Conferencing and Business Dining
      • Conferencing Facilities
      • Business Dining
    • Contacts
      • Research, Innovation and Impact Office (RIIO)
      • Get In Touch
    • News
      • Current News
      • Research News
      • Student News
    • Events
      • Events

    • Study Options
      • Study Home
      • Why Study at Bangor?
      • Undergraduate Study
      • Postgraduate Taught Study
      • Postgraduate Research
      • Part-time Courses
      • January Start Courses
      • Degree Apprenticeships
      • Study Abroad
      • Work Experience
    • Study Advice
      • Apply
      • Already Applied?
      • Fees and Finances
      • Scholarships and Bursaries
      • Get Ready for University
    • Explore Bangor
      • Virtual Open Days and Visits
      • Virtual Student Experience

    Find a Course

    Order a Prospectus

    • Student Life
      • Student Life Home
      • Bangor and the Area
      • Social Life and Entertainment
      • Accommodation
      • Clubs and Societies
      • Sport
      • Virtual Student Experience
    • Your Experience at Bangor
      • Student Support
      • Skills and Employability
      • Study or Work Abroad
      • Fees and Finances

    Student Profiles

    Student Videos and Vlogs

    • Choose Bangor
      • International Home
      • Why Bangor?
      • Location
      • Student Support
      • Contact Us
    • Apply
      • Entry Requirements
      • Tuition Fees and Scholarships
      • How to Apply
      • Already Applied
      • Study Abroad
      • Exchanges

    Country Specific Information

    Join us on a Virtual Open Day

    Bangor University International College

    Covid-19 Information

    • Research
      • Research Home
      • About Our Research
      • Research in our Academic Schools
      • Research Institutes and Centres
      • Research Portal
      • Research, Innovation and Impact Office (RIIO)
      • Energy
      • Research News
    • Postgraduate Research Opportunities
      • Postgraduate Research
      • Doctoral School
    • Events and Training Opportunities
      • Researcher Development
    • The University
      • About Us
      • Our Mission
      • Strategy 2030
      • Annual Review
      • Our Location
      • Academic Schools and Colleges
      • Services and Facilities
      • Vice Chancellor’s Office
      • Working with Business
      • Working with the Community
      • Sustainability
      • Health and Wellbeing
      • Contact Us
    • Working for Us
      • Job Vacancies
    • University Management and Governance
      • Policies and Procedures
      • Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement
      • Management and Governance
    • University and the Community
      • Pontio
      • Sports Facilities
      • Conference Facilities
      • Places to Eat and Drink
      • Public Events
      • Widening Access
      • Services to Schools
    • Business Services
      • Business Services Home
    • Collaboration Hub
      • Collaboration Hub
      • Funding for Collaborative Research and Development (R&D) & Innovation
      • Business Facilities and Networks
      • Consultancy, Specialist Expertise and Knowledge
      • Commercialisation and Intellectual Property (IP)
      • Student Placements and Internships in Business & Enterprise
      • Training and Continuing Professional Development
      • Degree Apprenticeships
    • Conferencing and Business Dining
      • Conferencing Facilities
      • Business Dining
    • Contacts
      • Research, Innovation and Impact Office (RIIO)
      • Get In Touch
    • News
      • Current News
      • Research News
      • Student News
    • Events
      • Events

Information for:

  • Alumni
  • Applicants
  • Current Students
  • Staff
  • Parents
  • Job Vacancies
  • Covid-19
My country:

Search

Close

Breadcrumb

  • Cymraeg

Share this page:
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn

Apply Now

Find out how to apply

Open Days

More information

Order a Course Guide

Order Now

Request Information

Get in touch

Chat to our staff and students

Connect through Unibuddy

Module SXL-2130:
Media Law

Module Facts

Run by School of History, Law and Social Sciences

20.000 Credits or 10.000 ECTS Credits

Semester 2

Organiser: Miss Tasha Roberts

Overall aims and purpose

The aim of the module is to equip students to state and apply the Media Law rules of England & Wales and of the European Union dealt within the course accurately and relevantly, in particular the law relating to issues such as freedom of the press, defamation, contempt of court, protection of journalists’ sources and privacy. Students will be expected to develop an appreciation of the legal regulation of broadcasting in England, Wales and the European Union, with particular attention to licensing, freedom of transmission and reception of programmes, broadcasting standards, the role of the Office of Communications (OFCOM) and European Union broadcasting policy and the impact of the EU Audio-Visual Media Services Directive.

The module will also enable students to compare and contrast different aspects of Media Law accurately and relevantly with the equivalent areas of any other legal system with which the student is familiar.

Course content

The module will allow students to study a range of issues within Media Law, including but not limited to:

  • Introduction to Media Law and the concept of freedom of speech
  • Models of government regulation of speech - England, Wales and the European Union
  • Open Justice and Court Reporting
  • Privacy Law in the United Kingdom and European Union
  • Defamation
  • Contempt of Court
  • Journalism and the law
  • Television Production and the law
  • Social Media and the Law

Assessment Criteria

excellent

Excellent: A- to A* (70+%) An outstanding answer containing all the material relevant to the question and no irrelevancy, all the material and references being accurate and correct, there being no inaccuracy or error, the whole presented in a clear, logical, critical argument with little room for improvement. An answer which demonstrates a complete mastery of the subject.

threshold

Threshold: D- to D+ (40-49%) An answer which, while predominantly correct in its presentation of material, contains a significant level of error and is therefore not entirely reliable.

C- to C+

C- to C+ (50-59%) An answer which, while always in the main accurate and correct, fails to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant material and is lacking in criticism. An answer which while reliable with regard to correctness is either not comprehensive or not entirely pertinent.

good

Good: B- to B+ (60-69%) High Standard: A comprehensive answer, containing all the material relevant to the question and no irrelevancy, all the material and references being accurate and correct, there being no inaccuracy or error, the whole presented in an argument which, while clear, logical and critical, leaves room for improvement in its construction and presentation. An answer which shows complete competence in the subject.

Learning outcomes

  1. Describe and comment on the principal characteristics and concepts of the English & Welsh, and European Union Media Law.

  2. Find, identify and use sources of relevant English & Welsh, and European Union Media Law.

  3. Demonstrate knowledge of wider contextual issues connected with English & Welsh, and European Union Media Law, and relate the principal characteristics of these laws to their political, social and cultural contexts.

  4. Communicate relevant legal principles of English & Welsh, and European Union Media Law succinctly and effectively to solve problems raised in actual or hypothetical scenarios.

  5. Show comprehensive understanding and reasoned legal argument in relation to issues of English & Welsh, and European Union Media Law.

Assessment Methods

Type Name Description Weight
COURSEWORK Written assignment

Students will complete a 2,500 word assignment from a topic covered in the module.

40.00
EXAM Final Examination

Students will sit a two hour exam on topics taken from their studies across the semester and will be required to answer two questions: one essay format and one problem question format.

60.00

Teaching and Learning Strategy

Hours
Lecture

The module will be taught by means of 44 hours of lectures over the course of one semester. Lectures are delivered weekly and are two-hours in length.

44
Private study

The module requires students to undertake private study in order to prepare for lectures, the midterm essay and final examination.

Students will be expected to engage with a range of academic sources to demonstrate further research.

156

Transferable skills

  • Literacy - Proficiency in reading and writing through a variety of media
  • Computer Literacy - Proficiency in using a varied range of computer software
  • Self-Management - Able to work unsupervised in an efficient, punctual and structured manner. To examine the outcomes of tasks and events, and judge levels of quality and importance
  • Exploring - Able to investigate, research and consider alternatives
  • Information retrieval - Able to access different and multiple sources of information
  • Inter-personal - Able to question, actively listen, examine given answers and interact sentistevely with others
  • Critical analysis & Problem Solving - Able to deconstruct and analyse problems or complex situations. To find solutions to problems through analyses and exploration of all possibilities using appropriate methods, rescources and creativity.
  • Presentation - Able to clearly present information and explanations to an audience. Through the written or oral mode of communication accurately and concisely.
  • Argument - Able to put forward, debate and justify an opinion or a course of action, with an individual or in a wider group setting
  • Self-awareness & Reflectivity - Having an awareness of your own strengths, weaknesses, aims and objectives. Able to regularly review, evaluate and reflect upon the performance of yourself and others

Subject specific skills

  • Develop the ability to interpret legal rules and employ techniques of legal reasoning competently and efficiently in order to offer a range of solutions and conclusions to actual or hypothetical complex legal problems, all supported by relevant academic literature, jurisprudence and legislative research. Such solutions will be clearly communicated and presented
  • Develop the ability to analyse complex legal issues, set against the background of the political, social, economic or cultural contexts in which they may arise
  • Develop those skills which are necessary for scholarship and research in legal subjects, namely the ability to identify relevant primary and secondary legal sources and to retrieve accurate legal information using paper and electronic sources

Resources

Resource implications for students

Students should have a copy of the key textbook

Talis Reading list

http://readinglists.bangor.ac.uk/modules/sxl-2130.html

Reading list

The key textbook for this module is Ursula Smartt, Media and Entertainment Law (4th Edn, Routledge 2019).

Readings ahead of each lecture will be detailed in the syllabus but will include materials such as:

  • Jacob Rowbottom, Media Law (Hart Publishing 2018)
  • http://www.5rb.com/
  • Entertainment Law Review
  • Journal of Media Law
  • Communications Law
  • The Entertainment and Sports Law Journal
  • Privacy & Data Protection Journal

Pre- and Co-requisite Modules

Co-requisites:

  • SXL-2112: Tort
  • SXL-2110: European Union Law
  • SXL-2113: Criminal Law

Courses including this module

Optional in courses:

  • N2M1: BA Business Management and Law year 2 (BA/BML)
  • N2MB: BA Business Man & Law (4 year with Incorp Foundation) year 2 (BA/BML1)
  • NM11: BA Business and Law year 2 (BA/BUSALAW)
  • NM1B: BA Business and Law (4 year with Incorporated Foundation) year 2 (BA/BUSLAW1)
  • P306: BA Media Studies year 2 (BA/MS)
  • P31B: BA Media Studies (4 year with Incorporated Foundation) year 2 (BA/MS1)
  • P30F: BA Media Studies [with Foundation Year] year 2 (BA/MSF)
  • 8U76: BA Media Studies (with International Experience) year 2 (BA/MSIE)
  • P30P: BA Media Studies with Placement Year year 2 (BA/MSP)
  • M100: LLB Law year 2 (LLB/L)
  • M11B: LLB Law (4 year with Incorporated Foundation) year 2 (LLB/L1)
  • M10P: LLB Law with Placement Year year 2 (LLB/LP)

Home

Study

  • Undergraduate Study
Home

Follow Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn

Bangor University

Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DG, UK

+44 (0)1248 351151

Contact Us

Visit Us

Maps & Directions

Policy

  • Legal Compliance
  • Modern Slavery Act 2015 Statement
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Privacy and Cookies
  • Welsh Language Policy
Map

Bangor University is a Registered Charity: No. 1141565

© 2020 Bangor University