ASSIGNMENT ONE
MEDIA REPORT ANALYSIS (20%)
Students are required to select one media report from the three reports provided on Blackboard under the assessment folder.
Students are required to identify and analyse the legal issues arising in their chosen report through answering a series of questions. Students need to apply a similar approach to that used in the Topic 1 tutorial case study, ‘The Swimming Stadium’, to their chosen media report.
Format of assignments
Assignments cannot be handwritten and must comply with the following format requirements:
• Document type: Word or pdf (pdf preferred);
• Font: Arial or similar font - no smaller than 12 point in size;
• Pages: Numbered in top or bottom margin;
• Spacing: Appropriate line spacing and paragraph spacing; and
• Margins: At least 2.5 cm top, left, right & bottom.
Assignments which do not conform with the above requirements, without prior agreement of the unit coordinator, will either be returned to the student unmarked or will have marks deducted.
Presentation
Three marks have been allocated to the presentation of the assignment document. The following will be taken into account when allocating marks for presentation:
• attachment of cover sheet (located on Blackboard under the Assessment folder) must be attached to the assignment;
• appropriate sentence structure;
• correct grammar, spelling and punctuation;
• consistent format;
• appropriate use of headings and sub-headings;
• within the acceptable word limit; and
• appropriate referencing (Chicago style or AGLC style) and acknowledgment of sources.
Word Limit
The total assignment should be a minimum of 500 words and not exceed 2000 words.
1 of 5
Please provide a word count on your cover sheet. A penalty of 10% will be imposed for every 100 words that exceed the word limit. The assignment will not be assessed if it exceeds 3000 words and will result in a ZERO mark.
The word count does not include the following:
• cover sheet;
• in-text referencing; • list of references; and
• headings.
Referencing and appropriate acknowledgement of sources
Most often errors in referencing are incidental or clearly inadvertent. In the event of a level one incident of plagiarism occurring, a student may be contacted by the University and required to undertake further training or remedial work in relation to referencing. Where the lack of correct referencing appears to contravene the University policy on plagiarism, the student’s paper will be referred to the Unit Coordinator and dealt with according to University policy. This may amount to academic misconduct.
An important aspect of the University Plagiarism Policy is recognition that not all plagiarism is intentional or involves cheating. If students are not learning as expected, they will be made aware of their difficulties and helped to improve. Those who deliberately choose to cheat by way of plagiarism, however, will be identified and dealt with accordingly.
Students are strongly advised to understand their responsibilities in relation to correct referencing and should consult the Unit Outline, the Business Law presentation slides on referencing and Blackboard for more information.
Submission
Please read the submission process carefully. Students should understand that compliance with instructions in relation to an assessment task is critical. Students MUST be aware that noncompliance with submission instructions can result in a mark of ZERO.
All assignments must be submitted by 1PM (WST) on the Monday of the week the assignment is due, i.e. Assignment one is due Monday, 26 March 2018 by 1PM (WST).
Students are required to submit the final version of their assignment to Blackboard through a link provided in the ‘Assignment One: Media report analysis’ folder titled ‘Assignment One Submission Link’. The assignment will automatically be submitted to the plagiarism detection program, Turnitin.
Prior to submitting the final version of their assignment, students are given the option to submit a draft version/s of their assignment through this ‘Assignment One Submission Link’ to retrieve an originality report of their assignment (which will tell them how much of their assignment was flagged as similar to other assignments submitted through the system). If multiple versions of an assignment are submitted through this link, then the version of the assignment that was last submitted before the due date/time will be taken to be the final version of the assignment and marked for assessment.
As it concerns the similarity percentage for draft assignments submitted through the system, we understand that there is a reasonable amount of content that may be reflected across multiple assignments, so plagiarism will not be assumed in these cases. Where however the similarity percentage is particularly high (40% or above), steps should be taken by the student to rework the content of their assignment to ensure the originality of the content.
The Unit co-coordinator may post additional information concerning this assignment as
announcements on blackboard, so it is the responsibility of the student to check the announcements for the unit on a regular basis.
Feedback on assignments
The teaching staff is available to assist you with your learning in this unit. You should contact your lecturer or tutor in the first instance if you need help understanding the course material or issues arising in the assignment. There is also a staffed discussion board available for students. It is often helpful to share ideas and problems with other students using this forum. You can also contact the Unit Coordinator if you are still unable to get the answer you are seeking. Please allow 48 hours (working days) for a response to your query.
Unfortunately it is just not possible for lecturers or tutors to review draft assignments for comment before submission (in effect double marking). If you require help with your assignment, either narrow the question or section of work to specific questions. If you have questions relating to your writing style (grammar etc) we suggest that you make use of the resources available through the Learning Hub on blackboard.
Tutors will mark and return assignments within ten days of their submission. Students will be provided with a brief answer outline and individual comments on what they have done well and suggestions for improvement in the future.
Assignments submitted early will not be marked before the due date.
Your assignment result and feedback will be returned to you via the ‘My Grades’ link on blackboard. In general, your marker will provide feedback to you by way of an audio file, which is approximately 1MB in size.
Please refer to the Unit Outline for the full procedure in relation to penalties for late submission and requests for an extension.
Breakdown of marks
Mark allocation
Question 1 4 marks
Question 2 6 marks
Question 3 4 marks
Question 4 3 marks
Presentation 3 marks
20 marks

Media report analysis
1. Identify the areas of law that are relevant to the chosen media report, and explain how they are relevant to the matters outlined in the report.
Students should refer to the areas of law listed in the Topic 1 lecture presentation. Not all the listed areas of law will be relevant, but each media report involves at least two areas of law.
(4 marks)
2. The law serves a number of different functions. It:
• Ensures reasonable predictability in daily life;
• Encourages and discourages certain conduct;
• Grants rights and powers to individuals and groups of people;
• Imposes obligations on individuals / organisations to meet their legal responsibility; • Allows for the enforcement of recognised rights and duties; and
• Provides remedies when an injustice has been done.
Demonstrate how the law functions in these various ways, by reference to specific examples within the chosen media report and the areas of law you identified in question 1.
You need only provide one example per point. However, you must discuss all six functions, and where possible, each point should use a different area of law as illustration. Be sure to explain specifically how and why you came to your conclusions.
(6 marks)
3. By reference to the legal issues contained in the chosen media report, explain why it was important for the relevant party/parties to know the law in the circumstances? How did, or could, the party/parties have applied the law to their advantage?
(4 marks)
4. How do the media influence public perceptions about the law and its administration? How might public pressure impact legislators and judges in establishing the law?
(3 marks)