Key Documents: Section I. Journalism, Media, and the Law - Introduction

Journalism is the most pervasive and contentious of professions. The reporting process pushes journalists to vigorously pursue, confront, or on occasion pick apart people and institutions on all levels. Then news stories are put out for public consumption and have an impact on every corner of society. By its very nature, journalism breeds broad scrutiny, strong reactions, and a legal tug-of-war mentality—the right of the public to know versus the outcry to control the aggressiveness of the press. This section recognizes the demand for journalism students, new hires, and veterans alike to know where their professional rights end and legal restrictions begin.

Journalism and media law is rooted in the Constitution and the First Amendment promise of a free press. It is an enormous area of the law with a long history and a penchant for growing ever more expansive each year. There has been a steady stream of federal and state legislation to address key issues in reporting that arise, and to mirror the ever-changing attitudes toward the role of journalism across the country. In more recent years, major technological innovations in news delivery and communications have added a massive collection of media rules and regulations as well. And the courts' interpretation of all these considerations has caused the body of law governing journalism and media to burgeon exponentially.

All the relevant documents in journalism and media law could easily fill several complete reference volumes. Such a compendium might be a boon to certain law students but far exceeds the day-today needs of most journalists. So this Journalism, Media, and the Law section focuses on a “representative sampling” of only the most important documents addressing the most essential issues. Subjects under consideration run from key constitutional amendments, national security concerns, and First Amendment issues—like danger speech, prior restraint, and libel—to privacy protection, public records access, confidential sources, copyright, and regulating electronic media. Each of these selected subjects then offers one to three government acts or landmark cases that greatly impact the way journalists of all stripes do their jobs.

The length of various laws and court decisions—often in the scores or even hundreds of pages—also factor into the way individual documents are treated here. The section adopts a “key documents” rather than full primary documents approach in the print version of Volume 5. This means a number of the legal documents have been edited down to make them more accessible without losing their original intent or import. For instance, most Supreme Court decisions stick to just the majority opinions with footnotes and summaries removed. Yet, in Branzburg v. Hayes, a rare landmark dissenting opinion is included with the majority opinion for the edification of the reader.

The introduction for each key document chosen usually begins with some perspective on the journalistic issue or aspect of the law at hand. Readers then get a sense of the case or piece of legislation in question and how it advances or dramatically changes the body of law on that subject. Ultimately, the introduction should also spell out how the document substantially affects a journalist's approach to a particular part of their work or mission. If studied and used correctly, certain documents can help embolden journalists in areas where the law is clearly on their side. And other documents can communicate the need for caution where the law clearly fails to support a journalistic practice or mindset.

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