The Law and Media virtual conference was on Friday, Oct. 22 from 10 a.m.- 3:30 p.m. This conference is put together and hosted by the Ohio State Bar Association (OSBA). The conference is meant to bring lawyers, journalists, judges, academics, and others to discuss some hot media topics including journalists’ rights in covering events and how they are forced into crisis situations, whether or not libel laws are sufficient for the social media age. They also listen in on the latest judicial and legislative updates to Ohio’s Sunshine Laws.
Each media topic is discussed for an hour, with panelists and a moderator for each topic.
Starting with “Caught in the CrossFire – Media Coverage of Protests and Social Unrest” at 10 a.m. Then “Your Right to Know” at 11 a.m. After a break, “A New Look at Libel” at 12:30 p.m. After that is “Data Journalism” at 1:30 p.m. Finally after the second break, “State of the Media Industry” at 2:45 p.m.
Dan Trevas is part of the OSBA Media Law chair, along with a Judicial system writer, on the Ohio Supreme Court, and a moderator of a section of this conference.
“The 2020 conference was canceled, so our last conference was in 2019,” said Trevas.
Since 2019 many things have changed. Because of COVID the conference is virtual this year.
“When the conference was in-person, the number of people there was around 100,” said Trevas. “With this being the first time virtually, the hope is that 100 people will view it by the end of the year.”
“I do hope for an in-person conference next year since it makes interacting with lawyers and other journalists easier and better,” said Trevas.
Even with this being a virtual conference, there are still many things journalists, lawyers and others can learn about the media, legal issues and journalism.
Nick Thomas
Intern