Reading I NEED HELP ON MY HOMEWORK

Guide for Your Briefing Papers

1. The Problem 2. The Psychology 3. Stakeholders 4. Law and Policy 5. Decision Makers

1. The Problem

What is the problem or issue, why is it important? Give a concise overview of the problem or issue being addressed.

This overview should be given as the introduction, the reader should be able to walk away and describe the problem and why it matters.

2. The Psychology

Tie in its intersection with media psychology. (e.g., Learning theory and videogame research, lecture 1)

If you need a reminder about media psychology refer to the lectures, additional readings posted on CANVAS as well as what the policy makers themselves are claiming with regard to psychological effects and processes.

3. Stakeholders

Build a Stakeholder’s chart

4. Law and Policy

Describe what you have found in the assigned and suggested readings, lecture and class discussion.

This is where you will present what you have learned about policies and law and give an analysis or explanation of what each each policy option entails.

5. What Should Decision Makers Do? What would you do?

“Let’s make a decision, what do we want to do?”

Who are the major decision makers, “players” in making the policy?

What are the main options for action?

Take into account PEST

All PEST elements may not always apply but thinking of and addressing the ones that do will help guide your thinking and analysis.

Build a PEST chart

Lay out evidence for your proposed policy solutions or recommendations.

Describe the pros and cons. Try to account for different interest groups or stakeholders that would want to get involved on either side of the issue.

Is there a freedom of speech or First Amendment issue here?

This might involve describing Supreme Court decision. More likely it will involve lower Court of Appeals decisions. Both involving the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

A note on where to find legal stuff

If you’ve ever followed a lawsuit or criminal trial in the US, you may have come across the work of the

Free Law Project. Its Recap database is one of the best ways to freely access documents typically stored in the paywalled Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system.

A partnership with the Free Law Project gives you updates on the biggest legal cases in tech via X, Mastodon, and Bluesky.

One of the best uses of Recap is the Big Cases Bot: an automated account on X / Twitter and Mastodon and Bluesky that checks for updates to the most important cases in US federal courts, automatically downloads the associated files to the Recap database, and posts an update linking to them.

The Verge is launching the Tech Cases Bot: a bot dedicated specifically to the kinds of cases that interest our audience. It’s a place for keeping up with Big Tech antitrust suits, criminal crypto charges, authors suing AI companies, challenges to online speech regulations, and more.

Using the Tech Cases Bot is simple. Just follow it on X at @techcases_bot, Mastodon at @[email protected], or Bluesky at @tech.bots.law, and you’ll see a post every time a filing comes through, with a link to the CourtListener docket and a PDF where applicable.

Finally, what are your solutions or recommendations based on what you have learned?

REMEMBER if you feel stuck at any point, refer to the Tips for Writing Policy Papers that can be found in Week 2 on our CANVAS page!

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