American Journalism
and Freedom of the Press

Where to find the readings:

= Firestone Book Reserve. = University Store
= World Wide Web. = Electronic Reserve/Blackboard course documents/Lexis = photocopy

Part I. The Historical Development of a Free Press

February 3. Introduction.

Randall Bezanson, How Free Can the Press Be? (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2003), 5-82 (New York Times v. United States [1971; "Pentagon Papers" case] and Miami Herald v. Tornillo [1971]).
Walter Lippmann, "Journalism and the Higher Law" and "What Modern Liberty Means" in Lippmann, Liberty and the News (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Howe,1920), 3-68.

February 10. The origins and meaning of the First Amendment

Leonard Levy, Emergence of a Free Press (New York: Oxford University Press, 1985), 3-61, 119-143, 173-219.
Paul Starr, The Creation of the Media (New York: Basic Books, 2004), Introduction, Chs. 1-3.
Kent Middleton et al., The Law of Public Communication, 6th. ed. (Pearson Allyn & Bacon, 2003), Ch. 2: The First Amendment.

February 17. Rise of the popular press and rediscovery of the First Amendment

Michael Schudson, Discovering the News (New York: Basic Books, 1978), 3-60, 88-159.
Starr, The Creation of the Media, Chs. 4, 7-8.


Cases for individual student presentation:
Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47 (1919)
Abrams et al. v. United States, 250 U.S. 616 (1919)
Whitney v. California, 274 U.S. 357 (1927)
Near v. Minnesota, 283 U.S. 697 (1931)

February 24. Toward Stronger First Amendment Guarantees?

Anthony Lewis, Make No Law: The Sullivan Case and the First Amendment (New York: Random House, 1991), 5-45, 113-218.
Bezanson, How Free Can the Press Be?, 83-104, 163-208, 230-253. (Harte-Hanks Communications v. Connaughton [1989], Bartnicki v. Vopper [2001], Food Lion v. ABC [1999], and Berger v. Hanlon [1996]).


Cases for individual student presentations:
Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 444 (1969).
Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973)
Howard v. Des Moines Register & Tribune, 283 N.W. 2d 289 [1989]; Bezanson, How Free Can the Press Be?, 209-229.
Pittsburgh Press v. Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations, 413 U.S. 376 (1973); Bezanson, How Free Can the Press Be?, 129-64.

March 2. Movies, Broadcasting, and the First Amendment

Starr, The Creation of the Media, Chs. 9-12.
Lucas A. Powe, Jr., American Broadcasting and the First Amendment (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987), 31-45, 197-215.
Cass R. Sunstein, " A New Deal for Speech," in David S. Allen and Robert Jensen, Freeing the First Amendment (New York: New York University Press, 1995), 54-78.
Middleton et al., The Law of Public Communication, Ch. 12: Regulation of Broadcasting.

Cases for individual student presentations:
Burstyn v. Wilson, 343 US 495 (1952)
Red Lion Broadcasting v. FCC, 395 U.S. 367 (1969)
FCC v. Pacifica Foundation 438 U.S. 726 (1978)

March 9 (first half of class). The First Amendment and the New Media

Lawrence Lessig, Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace (New York: Basic Books, 1999), 3-186.
Geoffrey Nunberg, "The Internet Filter Farce" The American Prospect (January 1-15, 2001), 24-28.
Middleton et al., The Law of Public Communication, Ch. 13: Regulation of Cable Television, Telephone, and New Electronic Media

Cases for student presentations:
Reno v. ACLU, 521 U.S. 844
United States v. American Libary Association et al.,123 S. Ct. 2297 (2003)

March 9. Second half of class: Midterm examination.

Part II. Journalism and Freedom of the Press: Currrent Controversies

March 23. Individual meetings with students about research projects.

March 30. The future of free expression -- general discussion

Frederick Schauer, "First Amendment Opportunism," in Lee C. Bollinger and Geoffrey R. Stone, eds., Eternally Vigilant (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002), 174-97.
Lawrence Lessig, Free Culture (Penguin, 2004), preface, Chs. 1-5, 7-10, afterword.

April 6.Student presentations

Privacy, security, and the First Amendment.
Middleton et al, The Law of Public Communication, Ch. 4: Privacy and Personal Security.

Scandal! Sensationalism, libel, and the growth of tabloid news and entertainment.


Middleton et al., The Law of Public Communication, Ch. 3: Libel [mostly review].

April 13.Student presentations

Commercial interests and access to the media
Middleton et al., The Law of Public Communication, Ch. 6: Corporate Speech, and Ch. 7: Advertising.


Campaign finance reform and the First Amendment

April 20. Student presentations

Indecency, obscenity, and the First Amendment
Middleton et al, The Law of Public Communication, Ch.8: Obscenity.

April 27. Student presentations

Violent speech, hate speech, and "political correctness"

War, terrorism, and freedom of the press