Freeing the Presses

by Cook, Timothy E.

• ISBN13: 9780807131688
• ISBN10: 0807131687
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-08-01
• Publisher: Louisiana State Univ Pr

Summary

Freeing the Presses offers a path-breaking inquiry into the theory and practice of freedom of the press at a critical time in the growing overlap between modern media and political discussion. Six political communication scholars draw upon history, sociology, political science, legal philosophy, and journalism to investigate whether the freedoms and privileges given to the news media and to reporters actually produce the results we expect. Their discussion covers past, present, and future media performance and engages a wide range of provocative questions: What understanding did the founders of the Constitution have of the press? Does the legal protection given to the press actually produce more free-wheeling news? Just how independent are the news media from political and other power centers? Must we accept a scurrilous, "unlovable" press if we are to have such independence? How will freedom of the press be changed by the new heady mix of mass-, middle-, and micromedia, and of citizen news-producers? Answers to these questions receive added perspective in an introductory essay by Timothy E. Cook and commentaries by four First Amendment experts. A book that will be welcomed by scholars, students, and anyone who relies on the freedom of the press in practice, Freeing the Presses addresses the important question of how best to pursue a media system that fulfills the demands of a democratic polity.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Freeing the Presses: An Introductory Essay	1	(28)
TIMOTHY E. COOK
PART ONE: FROM THE PAST
Introduction	29	(4)
CRAIG M. FREEMAN
The Press the Founders Knew	33	(18)
CHARLES E. CLARK
On the Relationship between Press Law and Press Content	51	(20)
FREDERICK SCHAUER
PART TWO: AT PRESENT
Introduction	71	(2)
JACK M. WEISS
Why Democracies Need an Unlovable Press	73	(14)
MICHAEL SCHUDSON
Daily News and First Amendment Ideals	87	(22)
REGINA G. LAWRENCE
PART THREE: TOWARD THE FUTURE
Introduction	109	(2)
RALPH IZARD
The Twilight of Mass Media News: Markets, Citizenship, Technology, and the Future of Journalism	111	(28)
W. LANCE BENNETT
"New Media" and Contemporary Interpretations of Freedom of the Press	139	(24)
DIANA OWEN
Afterword	163	(12)
EMILY ERICKSON
Contributors	175	(2)
Index	177