Media a hot topic for college conferences | Grace O’Sullivan

The 13th Annual Law Conference is set to take place in the coming fortnight, with its subject being The Changing Landscape of Media Law.The Conference is conducted by a number of legal professionals, and prominent members of the public sphere - with a vested interest, and wide range of experience in Media Law.Supported by William Fry and Cork Chamber of Commerce, the event is chaired by the renowned Mr. Justice Bryan McMahon – author of seminal Irish legal text ‘Law of Torts’ by McMahon & Binchy. The focal point of  the keynote speakers will be on the most recent developments in Media Law.According to organisers, the conference explores an extremely topical area due to the increasingly dynamic, instantaneous and media focused society we live in. It seems that in recent years the law has been attempting to play catch up with media, namely social media. Regulation – or lack thereof – can create much contraversy. Take for example a situtation involving a super-injunction, model and footballer. Thus the Conference ensures that media users are well informed on grey areas of the law.Taking place on Tuesday the 12th of November in the Aula Maxima, the event is free to all students.A number of other respected speakers will also be attending. The key speakers at the conference include: Dr. Eoin O’Dell, Trinity College Dublin lecturer in the area of freedom of expression and defamation; Professor John Horgan, Press Ombudsman and former DCU lecturer in journalism; John Maher BL, practicing barrister specialising in the area of Defamation law and author of The Law of Defamation; and Andrea Martin, media lawyer and former in-house counsel for RTÉ and TG4.Meanwhile a digital media masterclass takes place this Wednesday. Entitled ‘Smartphone media maker’, the course aims to show practitioners how to produce the best video, audio and pictures using their smartphones. The course will be given by former Reuters digital boss Ilicco Elia, who is now head of mobile at DigitasLBi, one of the UK’s top digital agencies.Speaking today Tom McCarthy, Media and Public Relations Officer at UCC said:

“Smartphones are powerful computers that have an important role to play in the future of journalism and story telling.”“This one day course will show journalists and media professionals how to use the latest apps and technology to tell compelling stories with their smartphones.”