Murray State professor invited for panel discussion at Marshall University
Murray State University faculty member, Dr. Kevin Qualls has been invited to participate in a panel discussion at Marshall University’s Constitution Week festivities. The annual event honors the birthday of Supreme Court Justice John Marshall, the university’s namesake.
The discussion, titled “Blogging, Online News and First Amendment Rights,” will take place Tuesday, Sept. 22, and is sponsored by Marshall University and the West Virginia State Supreme Court. It will broadcast live on West Virginia cable access channel 25 and will also be recorded for use by other state and regional stations.
West Virginia State Chief Justice Brent Benjamin will moderate the panel that features Qualls, an assistant professor in MSU’s department of journalism and mass communications. “I’m interested in what the panel will say about tort liability in the blogosphere,” Qualls said. “Many people who blog don’t realize that they are, in fact, publishers, and they have the same liability.”
Qualls said Twitter is a topic he would like to ask the chief justice to consider.
“I want to ask about his attitude regarding recent accommodations for tweeting in the courtroom,” Qualls said, referencing a form of instant blogging than can originate from a portable device such as a cell phone or an MP3 player like an iPod touch. “The issue is similar to cameras in the courtroom, but tweeting is more egregious than cameras. At least cameras convey a lot of information. Tweeting reduces the reporting to a textual expression limited to 140 characters or less.”
Between earning his juris doctorate in 2007 from Liberty University School of Law and a bachelor of arts in communications from the University of Kentucky in 1987, Qualls received a master of arts in journalism from Marshall University in 1992. While attending Marshall, Corley Dennison, dean of Marshall’s school of journalism and mass communications, was Qualls’ professor, and the two have kept in touch since.
In spring 2009, Dennison visited Murray State’s department of journalism and mass communications, which is undergoing reaccreditation by the Accrediting Council of Education in Journalism and Mass Communications. Dennison observed classes and met with JMC faculty and staff to advise them how best to prepare for the reaccreditation process.
Qualls said he is eager to return to his alma mater. “I am looking forward to visiting Marshall University,” Qualls said. “The panel discussion should be very interesting. A large body of media law was created before current communication technologies were contemplated. How old law should apply to new technology raises many legal questions. This is my research interest, and I look forward to hearing the perspectives of others in this field.”
In addition to Dennison and Qualls, the other panelists are Jan Schafer, director of American University’s Interactive Journalism Center; Philadelphia attorney Howard Basham; and blogger, columnist and host of radio talk show “Metro News Talk Line,” Hoppy Kerchaval.
