Topics: Media

• Access to Courtrooms

  Although the First Amendment doesn't mention freedom of access to courtrooms, the Supreme Court has held that the public right to attend criminal proceedings is...

• American Society of News Editors

  The American Society of News Editors concerns itself with issues of importance to newspaper editors and journalism in general, including First Amendment issues...

• Blogging

  Blogging implicates many First Amendment issues. These include whether bloggers are protected by shield laws, anonymous defamatory messages, and campaign-...

• C-SPAN

  Founded in the 1970s to provide public access to the political process, C-SPAN began airing floor activities of the House of Representatives in 1979...

• Cameras in the Courtroom

  Allowing cameras in courtrooms has stirred controversy and led to Supreme Court decisions in First Amendment cases. The Court has allowed states to experiment...

• Classified Documents

  The Supreme Court in 1971 ruled that the government cannot restrain in advance the press from publishing classified documents under the First Amendment...

• Confidential Sources

  Some courts recognize a reporters’ privilege to not reveal confidential sources as a First Amendment right, but each jurisdiction varies in the level of...

• Fair Report Privilege

  The fair report privilege is a state-law defense to defamation claims used by journalists, although the level of protection may vary by state. Under the...

• Fleeting Expletives and Fleeting Nudity

  Although the Court has said that the FCC can regulate fleeting expletives, it has also overturned FCC sanctions, not on First Amendment grounds, but because of...

• Indecency and the Electronic Media

  The FCC defines indecency in the broadcast industries and regulates the content of television and radio broadcasts to prevent the airing of inappropriate...

• Media Concentration

  Critics of ownership concentration in the news media business say that it threatens the marketplace of ideas and poses a threat to First Amendment freedoms...

• Media Exemption to Antitrust Laws

  To promote diversity of ideas under the First Amendment, the Supreme Court has sometimes allowed news media organizations to have exemptions to antitrust laws...

• Media Institute

  The Media Institute is a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit organization that specializes in publications on First Amendment issues in the communications arena...

• Media Law Resource Center

  The Media Law Resource Center is a nonprofit that was formed “to monitor developments and promote First Amendment rights in the libel, privacy and related...

• National Press Club

  The National Press Club, founded in 1908 and open to all who supply news, has sought to keep First Amendment issues front and center in the public eye...

• Newseum

  The Newseum is an “interactive museum of news” built by the Freedom Forum to promote greater public appreciation for First Amendment freedoms and the rich...

• Paparazzi

  Legislation designed to control the intrusive activities of paparazzi represents a collision between individual privacy and First Amendment free press rights...

• Press Access

  The First Amendment appears to provide a special right for the press, however the Supreme Court has taken a narrow view of the "press clause" and held that the...

• Privacy

  Privacy generally refers to an individual’s right to seclusion or right to be free from public interference. Often privacy claims clash with First Amendment...

• Public Radio

  Concerns about First Amendment rights led to the establishment of the public radio system, in which nonprofit corporations maintain primary control over the...

• Public Television

  American public television is premised on the idea that stations should be independently owned and operated to further the full exercise of First Amendment...

• Reporter's Privilege

  The idea behind reporter’s privilege is that journalists have a limited First Amendment right not to be forced to reveal a confidential source or information...

• Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

  The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has played an important role in many controversies over First Amendment press freedom and freedom of...

• Retraction

  Many states have adopted retraction statutes that allow the press to reduce liability if they publish a correction within a certain time period. Because...

• Social Media

  Social media First Amendment cases have involved how far government can go in restricting speech by public employees and students as well as true threats...

• Student Press Law Center

  The Student Press Law Center is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to defending the First Amendment rights of high school and college journalists...

• Taxation of Newspapers

  Newspaper taxation controversies that have emerged since the writing of the First Amendment have largely focused on taxation used to penalize certain...

• Whistleblowers

  The First Amendment-related issue of whistleblowing, exposing illegal conduct that violates norms of accountability, has been protected by federal and state law...

• Yellow Journalism

  Yellow journalism, sensationalistic or biased stories that newspapers present as objective truth, was created by William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer...