Freeing the Presses: The First Amendment in Action

by Timothy E. Cook (Editor), Regina G. Lawrence (Editor)

Overview

"A thoughtful, provocative, and timely account of the meaning of a free press in the United States." -- American Journal of Political Science

Most Americans consider a free press essential to democratic society -- -either as an independent watchdog against governmental abuse of power or as a wide-open marketplace of ideas. But few understand that far--reaching public policies have shaped the news citizens receive. With contributions from leading scholars in the fields of history, legal scholarship, political science, and communications, this revised and updated edition of Freeing the Presses offers an in-depth inquiry into the theory and practice of journalistic freedom. In addition to a new foreword by Regina G. Lawrence and afterword by Laura Stein, Freeing the Presses presents fresh and timely analyses of the complexities of news media and politics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807154205
Publisher:	Louisiana State University Press
Publication date:	06/09/2014
Series:	Media & Public Affairs
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	200
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

REGINA G. LAWRENCE holds the Jesse H. Jones Centennial Chair in Communication in the School of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin.

TIMOTHY E. COOK was the author of Governing with the News: The News Media as a Political Institution, which won the Doris A. Graber Best Book Award of the American Political Science Association. He was a coauthor of Crosstalk: Citizens, Candidates, and the Media in a Presidential Campaign, which won the Doris Graber Prize of the American Political Science Association.

Table of Contents

	Preface	vii
	Freeing the Presses: An Introductory Essay	1
Part 1	From the Past
	Introduction	29
	The Press the Founders Knew	33
	On the Relationship between Press Law and Press Content	51
Part 2	At Present
	Introduction	71
	Why Democracies Need an Unlovable Press	73
	Daily News and First Amendment Ideals	87
Part 3	Toward the Future
	Introduction	109
	The Twilight of Mass Media News: Markets, Citizenship, Technology, and the Future of Journalism	111
	"New Media" and Contemporary Interpretations of Freedom of the Press	139
	Afterword	163
	Contributors	175
	Index	177

Editorial Reviews

Based upon presentations at a media and public affairs symposium at Louisiana State University in 2003, these papers and commentaries by nine academics and a lawyer address the past, present, and future of freedom of the press. Editor Cook (political communication, Louisiana State Univ.) asserts that much current discussion regarding freedom of the press is theoretical instead of focusing on real-world practices. He would like to see us develop a "media system that fulfills the demands of a democratic polity." The six papers present historical evidence and new analysis concerning the press as conceived by the founders of the Constitution, the courts and the press, the impact of libel law, the autonomy of journalists, ways to maintain the relevance of the mass media, protections for the new personal digital media (such as Internet blogs), and a new model for an open press. The papers on the future of the news media, in particular, will stimulate new thinking. Many books have been written on the First Amendment and the press, but this one is especially important because it tests theories of freedom of the press. Highly recommended for academic, public, and specialized law and communications libraries.-Mary Jane Brustman, SUNY at Albany Libs. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

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