Chapter 16

1. Chapter 16 LEGAL CONTROLS and Freedom of Expression

2. Some guiding questions • What is the American notion of free expression? • What is a free press? • How does the First Amendment protect media expression? • What are special issues regarding broadcasting and the Internet?

3. Cultural and social struggles over free speech and press freedom have defined thenature of American democracy.

4. FIRST AMENDMENTto the U.S. Constitution Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

5. Food for thought: To what degree should the government regulate -- or protect -- forms of media expression?

6. Global Models for Expression of Ideas • authoritarian model • communist or state model • libertarian model • social-responsibility model

7. Censorship as prior restraint: Cases • Near vs. Minnesota, 1931 • Pentagon Papers, 1971 • Progressive magazine, 1979

8. Unprotected forms of expression • Sedition Act • Espionage Acts • false or misleading advertising • expressions that threaten public safety • libel (defamation of character in written expression)

9. Defenses against Libel Charges • checking truthfulness and accuracy of statements • absolute privilege and qualified privilege (in legal proceedings) • framing statements as “opinion and fair comment”

10. The Right of Privacy • protection of celebrities and public figures from invasive media • anti-paparazzi laws in some states • 1999 Supreme Court ruling prohibiting TV cameras from photographing crime raids without approval of occupants

11. INVASION OF PRIVACY includes • intrusion (recording or surveillance devices) • publication of private matters • unauthorized appropriation of a person’s name or image for commercial purposes

12. Food for thought: What are some privacy issues regarding the Internet?

13. OBSCENITY • What is it? How to define it? • Who should define it? • Should it be protected as a legitimate form of expression? • Should purveyors of it be prosecuted as a criminal offense?

14. Roth v. United States, 1957 • 1957 Supreme Court case defined OBSCENITY as that which appealed to “prurient interests” when “taken as a whole” by the “average person” using “contemporary standards”

15. Miller v. California, 1973 A work was considered obscene if • the average person, applying contemporary community standards, found that material as a whole appealed to prurient interests • it depicts or describes sexual conduct in a patently offensive way • it lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value

16. FIRST vs. SIXTH AMENDMENT • Sixth amendment guarantees accused the right to a speedy trial by an IMPARTIAL jury • cases occur in which news media heavily publicize details of a criminal case • in such cases, it becomes difficult to find an impartial jury

17. Some Sixth Amendment issues • sequestering juries • gag orders • shield laws • cameras in the courtroom • reports published on Internet

18. FILM and the First Amendment • early 20th century: censorship groups formed to “protect” children and working-class immigrants from immoral images • local film review boards censored films • 1908-1912: federal law against boxing films • 1915 Supreme Court decision (Mutual vs. Ohio) ruled that film was not a form of protected speech

19. Self-Regulation in Hollywood • Public pressure, film review boards and industry scandals led to self-regulation • formed the MPPDA (Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America), led by President Will Hays • in 1930s, established MOTION PICTURE PRODUCTION CODE to set moral standards

20. RATING MOVIE CONTENT:G, PG, R or X? Movie rating system developed in late 1960s by Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)

21. BROADCASTING and CENSORSHIP ISSUES • The Communications Act of 1934 mandated that broadcasters operate to serve the PUBLIC INTEREST • Who controls the airwaves? • Are the airwaves different from newspaper pages?

22. BROADCASTING and FIRST AMENDMENT • Cold War-era blacklisting of suspected “left-wing” performers and artists: fear of Communist influence in television • Red Lion v. FCC case (1969) • Miami Herald v. Tornillo (1974) • Pacifica v. FCC (1972-1979): George Carlin’s “Seven Dirty Words” case

23. POLITICS, BROADCASTING AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT • Equal time law in Section 315 of 1934 Communications Act • law amended in 1959 to exempt newscasts, press conferences, and political debates

24. THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE • FCC rule initiated in 1949 • Required stations to engage in controversial-issues programming and to provide competing points of view • Repealed in 1987 by federal court ruling • However, movements to revive Fairness Doctrine still exist

25. CYBERSPACE, EXPRESSION, and DEMOCRACY

26. Public debates about the Internet • First Amendment issues, such as allowing pornography or hate sites on Internet • Seeming lack of public concern regarding implications of ownership issues as it becomes more privatized

27. Will the Internet continue to develop democratically rather than hierarchically? To what degree will it be shaped by governments or corporate interests?

28. Can the Internet fulfill its promise as a democratic forum that enables and activates social change?