Book Description

The seventh edition of this venerable casebook maps the changing landscape of mass media law. The attacks of September 11, 2001, and the subsequent "war on terror" have ushered in a new era of government secrecy, challenging traditional understandings with respect to freedom of information, war coverage, access to prisoners, openness of trials, and the confidentiality of sources. Dramatic consolidation of media ownership tests the limits of regulatory restraint. Yet indecency regulation looms on the horizon. Meanwhile, the law continues to struggle with the changes wrought by the technological blurring of boundaries between traditional media categories. The seventh edition covers these latest developments and more, while maintaining the landmark cases and rulings that courts and advocates will use to guide the resolution of the issues these developments raise. However, this edition does not merely add new developments to existing material. Instead, the authors have tightly reedited the book to give students a concise but comprehensive view of the present state of media law.