Argues that broadcasting should be accorded the same first amendment rights as the print media, shows how regulation has led to abuse, and suggests a different approach for the future
A case study of the link between money and political power charges the Bush administration with compromising mainstream America through its proposed changes to environmental laws.
In this book, Paul Matzko tells the story of the emergence of ultra-conservative radio in the 1960s, and reveals the Kennedy administration's involvement in a censorship campaign against conservative broadcasters. The Radio Right provides the essential pre-history for the last four decades of conservative activism, as well as the historical context for current issues of political bias and censorship in the media.
Drawing from extensive archival research, the book uncovers the American media system's historical roots and normative foundations. It charts the rise and fall of a forgotten media-reform movement to recover alternatives and paths not taken.
European Convention on Human Rights – Article 10 – Freedom of expression 1. Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This article shall not prevent States from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises. 2. The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary. In the context of an effective democracy and respect for human rights mentioned in the Preamble to the European Convention on Human Rights, freedom of expression is not only important in its own right, but it also plays a central part in the protection of other rights under the Convention. Without a broad guarantee of the right to freedom of expression protected by independent and impartial courts, there is no free country, there is no democracy. This general proposition is undeniable. This handbook is a practical tool for legal professionals from Council of Europe member states who wish to strengthen their skills in applying the European Convention on Human Rights and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights in their daily work.
Freedom of speech. It is our most cherished privilege as Americans, guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution since 1791. But our current presidential administration threatens to sharply curtail or silence altogether the freedom of expression that distinguishes America from the average dictatorship. What is under direct attack? Conservative talk radio. During the Reagan administration, conservative talk radio burgeoned when the FCC voted to stop enforcing the Fairness Doctrine, which required all licensed broadcasters to present "balanced" viewpoints on controversial issues. The format was a smash hit, attracting an estimated 50 million listeners weekly. Popular, profitable, outspoken, powerful, influential—it’s what the American people wanted, and its success was the Democrats' worst nightmare. Now, the principles underlying the Fairness Doctrine threaten to be reinstated. Under cover of being "fair," they will be used as a means of censorship, allowing government to influence who owns our airwaves and thus controls the content, a mandate with far-reaching implications for all media—indeed, for freedom of speech for all Americans.
In 2009, a bipartisan Knight Commission found that while the broadband age is enabling an info. and commun. renaissance, local communities in particular are being unevenly served with critical info. about local issues. Soon after the Knight Commission delivered its findings, the FCC initiated a working group to identify crosscurrent and trend, and make recommendations on how the info. needs of communities can be met in a broadband world. This report by the FCC Working Group on the Info. Needs of Communities addresses the rapidly changing media landscape in a broadband age. Contents: Media Landscape; The Policy and Regulatory Landscape; Recommendations. Charts and tables. This is a print on demand report.
The Battle to Control Broadcast News chronicles the power plays, fights, betrayals, and skirmishes behind the use and misuse of both the Fairness Doctrine, which required broadcasters to air news on controversial issues and to provide a "balance" in their programming, and the Equal Time Law, which governs political programming and claims that federal law cannot require broadcasters to carry all candidates. Hugh Donahue argues that these restrictions were never justified, that the public lost more than it gained by having them, and that fear of the power of mass communications is a constant theme shaping regulation of broadcast journalism.Donahue's sweeping history describes the curious position that broadcast news occupies on the spectrum of American journalism and political activism: it is by far the most widespread force in news and politics, but also the most restricted, as it is the only one whose First Amendment rights have been limited by Congressional action and regulatory fiat.The book analyzes disputes over broadcasters' free speech rights and government regulation. Donahue demonstrates that dramatic growth in emerging cable television and satellite technologies is significantly expanding television news and politics, making existing regulations obsolete. He argues that the remarkable durability of these outdated laws can be attributed to such special interest groups as the automobile and oil industries and the gun lobby, which want direct access to broadcast audiences, and to a public wary of both "big media" domination of political discourse and "big money" advertisers seeking to monopolize the airwaves.