Eric Robinson Column Archive

S.C. media and First Amendment advocates must remain vigilant as new ‘hurricane’ brews in Florida Published March 2023 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications In 2022, Hurricane Ian barreled across Florida, causing widespread damage and becoming the deadliest hurricane to strike Florida since 1935. Ian then traveled into the Atlantic Ocean before making a second landfall near Georgetown, South Carolina, then dissipated upon moving inland. Now, there’s a new hurricane brewing in Florida, but instead of threatening buildings, infrastructure and lives it is taking aim at well-established and cherished principles of First Amendment law. And,…

Managing and Covering the Murdaugh Case and Other “Trials of the Century” Published Feb. 2023 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications Although it is common to call a high-profile trial “the trial of the century,” it is a misnomer; there have been several such trials in recent history. This includes several in the 20th and 21st centuries, such as the Lindbergh baby kidnapping and murder case in the 1930s, the trial of Charles Manson and the Manson “family” for murder in the 1970s, the O.J. Simpson murder trial in the 1990s, and the Casey Anthony…

Suing the Media for Revenge and Profit Published Jan. 2023 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications In his new bestselling book and slew of media interviews promoting it, Prince Harry rails against the British media and their alleged collaborators within the British Monarchy, blaming them for everything from the death of his mother, Princess Diana, to the rift with his family that persists after he and his wife Meghan Markle “stepped back” as senior members of the British royal family and moved to the United States in 2020. He has also joined a lawsuit in…

Old videotape law presents new legal challenge to news websites Published December 2022 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications An enterprising law firm in New York City is soliciting for plaintiffs to sue various newspapers whose websites allegedly include a “pixel” from Meta Platforms Inc.—the parent of Facebook—that allows Meta to track users’ activity. Ironically, one of the prominent places that the law firm is advertising is on Facebook. The ads assert that “Your local newspaper is sharing your personal information,” with some specifying that the information being shared includes the videos that you have…

Does the reporters’ shield survive death? And another way to foil FOIA Published November 2022 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications The murder of Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German—for which a former local official who lost his reelection bid and was then removed from office after German exposed improprieties in his office has been charged—is a troubling reminder that journalists’ jobs can be dangerous, especially when revealing things that some people don’t want known. Thankfully—unlike some places in the world—killing journalists for their work is relatively rare in the United States. Prior to…

Libel without a name? Published October 2022 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications A parent’s apparently false allegation at a public November school board meeting that an administrator in Richland County School District Two had strip searched his daughter led to a defamation lawsuit against the parent, and against The Voice of Blythewood and Fairfield County for reporting on the allegation. An investigation concluded that the strip search had not occurred. The defamation claims were made against the newspaper even though The Voice never named the school administrator accused of conducting the strip search in…

The Royals and the Press Published September 2022 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications The death of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II after a reign of more than 70 years has prompted a cascade of retrospectives and reminiscences of the major events and changes of the past quarter-century. These have included the break-up of the British Empire, the reshaping of the world’s politics and economy and the explosion of new technology. There has also been a revolution in the media and the press, including new forms of communication that allow a wider conversation of topics both…

Trial gag orders are no laughing matter Published August 2022 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications South Carolina Circuit Judge Clifton Newman was praised (here and here, for example) in early August when he rejected requests for gag orders from both the prosecution and the defense in the pending double-homicide murder trial against disbarred attorney Alex Murdaugh for allegedly killing his wife and son in the midst of a maelstrom of other charges involving fraud, theft and other illegal and unethical behavior. The parties had requested that Newman seal—remove public access to—all the evidence in…

Abortion Ruling Could Impact Media Law Published July 2022 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications We have already seen some of the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent blockbuster decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which reversed its 49-year-old Roe v. Wade precedent and left it to the states to individually determine the availability of abortions. The debate over abortion is for another forum. But it seems likely that the decision will also bring new legal questions for the media. These questions will arise from the statutes that individual states pass to…

South Carolina needs a good SLAPP law Published June 2022 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications In late May, the Judiciary Committee of the North Carolina State Assembly approved a legislative bill, which would allow for early dismissal of lawsuits making libel or other claims that are meant to shut down discussion of important public issues. The bill is now due to be considered by the Assembly as a whole. If North Carolina adopts the bill into law, it will become the 34th state to pass a so-called “Anti-SLAPP” statute. (The District of Columbia also…

S.C. police agencies should follow FOIA law Published May 2022 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications A “possibly gang-related” shooting in a Greenville middle school. Records from the 2009 disappearance of a high school student in Myrtle Beach. And the notorious murder of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh at their family estate in Colleton County. In the Greenville and Murdaugh cases, police agencies released only brief, one-page reports to the press and public that said little beyond vaguely describing the incident that occurred, as well as when and where it happened. In the Myrtle Beach case,…

Lawsuit Settlement Will Loosen Ethics Confidentiality Published April 2022 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications Just as the media have investigated and disclosed numerous examples of apparent conflicts of interest and corruption in state and local government here in South Carolina, a pending settlement of a federal lawsuit will allow whistleblowers who report ethics violations to publicly disclose their allegations without the threat of being prosecuted for doing so. The lawsuit was filed on Aug. 25, 2021 by Columbia attorney Chris Kenney on behalf of a client who complained to the State Ethics Commission about…

Publication of Murdaugh Phone Call Recordings Raises Legal Issues Published March 2022 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act provides that state agencies must provide public records, within certain parameters and exceptions, to the public upon request. It also defines “public record” as including “all books, papers, maps, photographs, cards, tapes, recordings, or other documentary materials regardless of physical form or characteristics prepared, owned, used, in the possession of, or retained by a public body.” So when the Murdaugh Murders Podcast made a FOIA request for recorded phone conversations of…

$50 Million Verdict in South Carolina Libel Case Is an Outlier, Not an Omen Published Feb. 2021 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications There is a saying among lawyers that “bad facts make bad law,” meaning that cases in which the litigants (and/or perhaps lawyers) acted strangely or improperly often lead to problematic results, which give a false impression of the law and may become troublesome precedents for future cases.   The libel suit by Bluffton mayor Lisa Sulka against government critic and gadfly Skip Hoagland, which ended with a $50 million jury verdict—$40 million in…

2021 was another record year in U.S. Press Freedom, but not in a good way Published Jan. 2022 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications The language of the First Amendment regarding freedom of speech and the press seems pretty absolute: “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” But the reality has always been more complicated. In the early years of the republic—only a decade after the adoption of the First Amendment—a federal law allowed prosecutions for criticism of President John Adams and his government. During the Civil…

Antitrust Clouds—and Lawsuits—Gather Against Big Tech Published Dec. 2021 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications What started as a West Virginia publisher’s quixotic quest has become a major lawsuit, brought on behalf of more than 200 individual newspapers, to challenge the uncompensated use of newspapers’ stories online by Google in its search results and by Google and Facebook in their news feeds; a lawsuit that could change the online—and financial—landscape for newspapers and other news organizations nationwide. At the same time, Google, Facebook and other tech giants are facing broader challenges to their dominant role…

Holy Cow!: Troubling Appeals Court Ruling Holds that Tweet Link May Be Libel, Though the Linked Article Is Not Published Oct. 2021 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications You may have noticed that California Congressman Devin Nunes is in the news. If you’re interested in a strange tale about Nunes, a tweet, the complexities of libel law and a fake cow, I’ve got a story for you. Congressman Nunes is a particularly outspoken supporter of former President Trump and—like the former president—also a prolific defamation plaintiff. One of the more prominent suits that Nunes filed…

SOS for South Carolina’s FOIA Published Sept. 2021 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications In the past several weeks and months we have seen numerous examples of local and state government boards and agencies refusing to comply with South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act. These include school districts not disclosing numbers of COVID cases, law enforcement’s initial refusal to disclose more than scant information about the extraordinary Murdaugh case, and Chester’s human resources director, Coastal Carolina’s women’s lacrosse coach, the director of the S.C. Department of Disabilities and Special Needs and Lexington-Richland District 5’s superintendent…

Embedded Graphics May Lead to Copyright Troubles Published Aug. 2021 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications Hopefully most reporters, layout artists, and web designers at media companies understand that they can’t simply copy a photo or other illustration they find online and use it in their print, broadcast or online news report, without regard for any copyright issues. (Then again, maybe they don’t, since that scenario is a constant source of litigation.) Until a recent court decision, a way of avoiding the copyright problems online, instead of downloading an image and then uploading it to…

Media Law Then and Now: In Recognition of Bill Rogers’ Retirement Published July 2021 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications Each month in this column, I attempt to highlight a recent development in media law, either in South Carolina or nationally, that may have an impact on the news organizations that are members of the Press Association. But for this column, in honor of the retirement of Bill Rogers after 33 years as executive director of the Association, I thought it would be enlightening to look at media law as it existed in South Carolina…

Government Accessing Electronic Communications to Identify Sources: It Can Happen to You Published June 2021 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications  The revelations that the U.S. Justice Department secretly sought information on reporters’ e-mail, phone and other communications has sent shock waves through media and political circles in Washington, D.C. The Justice Department sought the information directly from communication providers in order to identify the sources of various leaks of government information. It also obtained gag orders barring editors and lawyers at the reporters’ news organizations and the communications providers from informing the reporters that…

Study Shows Increasing U.S. Supreme Court Skepticism of the Press Published May 2021 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications Despite avowed threats to media freedom in recent years, the U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts have showed general fealty to the landmark New York Times v. Sullivan decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that set the modern standard for defamation law and understanding of the First Amendment. In short, First Amendment law has not substantially changed in the last few years, despite the expressed desires of some. But a new study scheduled to be published…

Chauvin Trial Shows Importance of Court Access Published April 2021 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications There has been a lot of attention focused on the ongoing trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd. Occurring in the context of often-heated discussions of police treatment of minorities, the trial has been shown live on TV and online, and most of the coverage by other media has relied on these live feeds. This shows that a trial can be covered by cameras without turning into a sensation. And it provides a…

“The Right to Be Forgotten” Washes Ashore in the U.S. Published March 2021 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications We all make mistakes, take foolish actions, and say stupid things. Most of the time, these errors in judgment are ephemeral: we deal with the consequences—or not—and we move on, hopefully a bit more prudent and wiser. But in the age of the internet, past indiscretions that once would be forgotten now never really go away. But while we may have little sympathy for public officials and public figures whose failings are revealed after they knowingly…

New Administration Means Changes on Press Issues Published Feb. 2021 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications Any change in presidential administrations, especially when it involves a change of party affiliation, means changes in a lot of federal government personnel, stances on issues and policy changes. This is especially true as the Biden Administration takes over from Donald Trump. And many of the changes will likely be in the new administration’s policies and attitudes regarding the press. The Biden White House has already re-instituted the daily briefing by the White House press secretary, a ritual that…

Free Speech Issues Abound After Capitol Hill Riot Published January 2021 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications The riot at the Capitol building on Jan. 6 and its aftermath have raised several serious concerns about American politics and society. These events also raise several questions and dilemmas regarding First Amendment law and freedom of speech generally. Social Media Bans: In the aftermath of the events in Washington, various social media platforms at first suspended and then terminated President Trump’s accounts. They also terminated accounts of several groups and individuals who participated, encouraged and/or celebrated the…

If Tech Hurts Newspapers, Can Tech Save Them? Published December 2020 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications One of the many developments that have hurt newspapers is tech companies and their websites that collect and display headlines and story ledes from websites of newspapers and other news sources. The tech companies have argued that they drive traffic to the news organizations’ web sites from users who click on the headlines and ledes on their sites, which lead the users to the news organizations sites to read the full stories: users that the news sites can…

Music Awards Dispute Shows Dilemma of Photo Coverage of Concerts and Other Events Published November 2020 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications In-mid November, the Associated Press declined to cover the Country Music Association Awards after the organizers attempted to place severe limits on the photos that the wire service could take and distribute of the event. An AP photographer was not allowed into the awards event because of coronavirus limitations. So the CMA suggested that the AP license photos taken by CMA photographers. But the AP refused, since licensing normally involves a fee (which…

Lessons Not Learned Published October 2020 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications Within the past few weeks, there have been a number of examples of government bodies and officials ignoring the open records and open meeting requirements of South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act, and in some of these cases seeing consequences as a result. Unfortunately, these latest incidents are part of a pattern of misinterpreting or ignoring the requirements of the law that has continued even after changes to clarify and reinforce FOIA were passed in 2015. More amendments in 2017 expanded the law…

Protect Sources by Not Showing Them? Published Sept. 2020 By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications The past several months of protests in reaction to police shootings have raised several First Amendment issues, including police and protestors physically attacking journalists, police detaining and arresting reporters, and law enforcement agencies seeking media materials such as unpublished photos and unaired television footage in order to identify miscreants. The latter has led to a current dispute in the Washington state Supreme Court, in which the Seattle Times and several TV stations are refusing to provide their unused photos and…