Topics: Freedom of the Press issues and topics

• 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...

• Actual Malice

  Actual malice is the legal standard the Supreme Court uses to protect the media in libel cases in determining when public officials or figures may win damages...

• Autopsies and Treatment of the Dead

  Sometimes state autopsy laws conflict with religious objections to such procedures, bringing into play First Amendment questions of religious liberty. Public...

• Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005 (2005)

  The Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act increased fines for violating indecency standards. First Amendment advocates are concerned about the act's chilling effect...

• 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...

• Censorship

  Censorship occurs when individuals or groups try to prevent others from expressing themselves. Government censorship violates the freedoms of speech and of the...

• Chilling Effect

  Chilling effect is the concept of deterring First Amendment free speech and association rights through laws or regulations that appear to target expression...

• 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...

• Communications Act of 1934 (1934)

  The Communications Act of 1934 regulated television and radio. Broadcasters have public obligations, which serve as a limit on their First Amendment rights...

• Communications Decency Act and Section 230 (1996)

  The Court said the Communications Decency Act in 1996 violated the First Amendment because of its overly broad language regarding indecent and offensive...

• 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...

• Contempt of Court

  Civil contempt of court can be fixed by obeying court orders. Criminal contempt involves violating the dignity of the court and is more likely to raise First...

• Criminal Libel

  In the United States, courts have based decisions regarding slanderous or libelous statements on the First Amendment rights of free speech and freedom of the...

• Equal Time Rule

  The federal equal time rule requires broadcasters to treat political candidates equally in terms of air time. Some see the rule as a violation of First...

• 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...

• Fairness Doctrine

  The fairness doctrine attempted to ensure that broadcast coverage of controversial issues was fair. Many journalists opposed the policy as a violation of the...

• False Light

  False light invasion of privacy, portraying an individual unflatteringly in words or pictures as someone that person is not, is not protected by the First...

• Filming the Police

  Federal appellate courts have ruled that people have a First Amendment right to film police interactions with citizens...

• Free Flow of Information Act

  The Free Flow of Information Act would create a federal shield law to protect reporters. Opponents of the law say the First Amendment does not entitle press to...

• Freedom of Information Act of 1966 (1966)

  The Freedom of Information Act was adopted on the principle that government should be transparent. Citizens can hold government accountable through First...

• Gag Orders

  Gag orders on trial participants are often used to ensure fair trials. Gag orders on the press must meet high standards set by the courts to avoid prior...

• Government in the Sunshine Act (1976)

  The Government in the Sunshine Act requires meetings of bodies that govern federal agencies to be open unless they fall under 10 exceptions in the law...

• 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...

• Internet

  The Court faces challenges in dealing with regulation of online speech because of the internet's unique ability to spread information quickly and widely...

• Libel and Slander

  Libel and slander lawsuits can have a chilling effect on free speech. The First Amendment rights of free speech and free press often clash with the interests...

• 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...

• Neutral Reportage Privilege

  Neutral reportage protects from libel claims media that accurately and objectively report newsworthy charges against public figures as part of an ongoing...

• Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970 (1970)

  The Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970 allowed competing newspapers to enter into a joint operating agreement in which they shared revenue but kept separate...

• Open Meeting Laws and Freedom of Speech

  Open meetings laws guarantee access by the public to meetings of governing bodies. All states adopted such laws by 1976. Access to government meetings is not...

• 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...

• Printing Ordinance of 1643 (1643)

  The Constitution framers were familiar with press licensing controls such as England's Printing Ordinance of 1643 when they decided to protect press freedom in...

• Prior Restraint

  Prior restraint allows the government to review the content of printed materials and prevent their publication. Prior restraint usually violates the First...

• Public Figures and Officials

  To promote First Amendment freedom of speech, libel plaintiffs who are public figures or officials must show a publisher acted with actual malice to collect...

• Radio Act of 1912 (1912)

  The Radio Act of 1912 for the first time gave the government control over the broadcast spectrum, leading to First Amendment quandaries in later years...

• Radio Act of 1927 (1927)

  The Radio Act of 1927 created a commission to license broadcasters. Underlying the act was the assumption that radio was expression protected by the First...

• 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...

• 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...

• Right to Be Forgotten

  Although recognized in Europe, the right to be forgotten — forcing removal of embarrassing information about an individual from the Internet — would violate...

• Right to Receive Information and Ideas

  The United States Supreme Court has recognized that the right to receive information and ideas flows from the First Amendment protection of free speech...

• Right to Respond and Right of Reply

  The FCC's right to respond and reply allowed those criticized on radio and TV broadcasts time to share their viewpoint on air to foster First Amendment...

• Seditious Libel

  Cases involving the First Amendment and seditious libel, statements intended to provoke dissatisfaction with the government, arose during several eras in...

• Shield Laws

  Although the Supreme Court hasn't recognized a First Amendment privilege for journalists to refuse to reveal their sources to a grand jury, most states have...

• 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...

• Telecommunications Act of 1996 (1996)

  The Telecommunications Act of 1996 significantly altered federal communications policy. Parts of the Act have been struck down for violating the First Amendment...

• Whistleblowers

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