This chapter discusses the history and current state of media law regarding freedom of expression. It covers the development of free speech philosophy from John Milton in 1644 to protections established in the US Constitution. Early laws like the Sedition Acts restricted criticism of government. The Zenger trial established truth as a defense against sedition charges. Current issues around intellectual property, privacy, libel and newsgathering are analyzed, as well as controversies around censorship and conflicting rights like free press versus right to a fair trial.

1. Mass Media
Jason Nix
Journalism Instructor and
Program Director
JOURN 110
Spokane Falls Community College

2. Chapter 14
Media Law: Understanding Freedom
of Expression
Chapter Outline
• History
• Today’s Media Law
• Controversies

3. A Brief History of Media Law
The Development of the Philosophy of Free Speech
• John Milton’s Areopagitica (1644)
• The freedom to protest was important to the many
founders of the American colonies who had broken
away from the Roman Catholic Church.
• England’s licensing laws followed them across
the Atlantic and hampered freedom of expression
for over 100 years

4. A Brief History of Media Law
• Seditious libel laws
• Made it illegal to criticize the government or its
representatives
• Zenger Trial
• The 1735 acquittal of John Peter Zenger established
that a person should not be punished for publishing
truthful criticism of the government
• Contempt
• Willful disobedience of the rules of a court or
legislative body
• Prior restraint

5. A Brief History of Media Law
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
guaranteed citizens five rights:
• Religion
• Speech
• Press
• Assembly
• Petition

6. A Brief History of Media Law
• Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)
• The Comstock Act (1873)
• The Clear and Present Danger Doctrine
(1919)
• Smith Act (1940)

7. A Brief History of Media Law
• Investigative journalists influenced passage of laws
such as the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 and the
Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which lead to
restrictions in what and how the media could
advertise.
• In 1917, the Espionage Act upheld the censorship of
ideas considered injurious to the war effort.
• The Sedition Act of 1918 made any criticism of
President Woodrow Wilson’s administration illegal.
• Newspapers were silenced by orders and
prosecutions.
• Individual critics of the WW I were rounded up
without warrants and held incommunicado
without bail and sometimes sent to prison.

8. A Brief History of Media Law
Regulating Broadcasting
• The Communications Act of 1934
• Equal Opportunity Rule part of the
Communications Act of 1934, still in effect
• The Fairness Doctrine (1949-1987)
• Ownership limitations
• AT&T and the Baby Bells (1974-1982)
• Ronald Reagan: strong and powerful advocate of
deregulation, believed free markets would control
themselves without government interference
• Telecommunications Act of 1996

9. A Brief History of Media Law
• Roth v. United States (1957)
• In 1964 Justice Potter Stewart’s famous 1964
definition of obscenity: “I can’t define it, but
I know it when I see it.”
• indecency
• Shock jock Howard Stern tested this
constantly before moving to satellite radio
on a $500 million contract.

10. A Brief History of Media Law
• Pentagon Papers (1971)
• Wikileaks (2010)

12. A Brief History of Media Law
• Current Trends in Media Law
• Different countries/ different rules
• Be careful writing about public figures in
England
• Germans are still touchy about Nazism
• Don’t insult Islam or “Arabness” in Jordan
• Concentration of Ownership
• Big legal bills/ big payoffs for attorneys
• New Technology
• Communications Decency Act (1996) deals with
transmission of indecent and obscene material over
the Internet if minors can access it

13. Understanding Today’s Media Law

14. Understanding Today’s Media Law

15. Understanding Today’s Media Law
Protection of Rights
• Personal Rights: An individual’s right to be left
alone, especially in one’s home, has been
established through common law.
• USA PATRIOT Act

16. Understanding Today’s Media Law
• Private facts
• Intrusion
• Appropriation
• Defamation
• Slander
• Libel
• A public figure must prove actual malice

17. Understanding Today’s Media Law
• Four defenses against a libel charge
• Truth
• The NY Times rule (actual malice)
• Privilege
• Reporters enjoy qualified privilege, which allows them
to report on court proceedings
• Fair comment and criticism
• 70 percent of Libel verdicts are overturned or
reduced on appeal

18. Understanding Today’s Media Law
• The chilling effect: Still, the average cost of
defending a libel suit is $100,000.
• Libel law began as a protection for personal
rights, but has now expanded to include
protections of institutions, companies, and
products.
• Trade libel
• Defamation of a company or its products is
referred to as product disparagement or trade
libel.

19. Understanding Today’s Media Law
• Intellectual Property Rights
• Copyright law grants the author of a work the right
to make and distribute copies of that work for a
specified period.
• For works created after 1978: protection is the
life of the author plus 70 years. For works
created before 1978 the copyright lasts a total of
95 years no matter how long the author lives.
• First-sale doctrine allows purchasers of copies of
a copyrighted work to resell it or rent it out.
• Copyright does not protect ideas, only the
expression of ideas, such as a screenplay or
novel.

20. Understanding Today’s Media Law
• The copyright sign does not have to appear
in a work for it to be protected.
• Fair use
• Digital Millennium Copyright Act in 1998
which made it a crime to break through any
technology intended to secure digital copies
of software, literary works, videos, and
music.

21. Understanding Today’s Media Law
Trademarks
• Trademarks as generic terms
• Fair use of trademarks
• Expressions as trademarks

22. Understanding Today’s Media Law
• Patent
• Federal copyright law

23. Understanding Today’s Media Law
• Newsgathering Rights
• Sunshine laws
• Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
• Shield law

24. Controversies
• In the legal sense, censorship is either
prior restraint or prosecutions after the
fact by governmental organizations.
• Some forms of speech are more protected
than others.
• Political speech
• Artistic speech
• Commercial speech
• Indecent speech

25. Controversies

26. Controversies
Conflicting Rights
• Free Press/Fair Trial: Courts tried gag orders but
the Supreme Court found those unconstitutional.
• In a continuance the trial is postponed until
publicity dies down
• Juries are sequestered to shield them from press
influence.
• Change of venue moves the trial to a different
location.
• Judges admonish juries not to read, watch or
listen to news reports.
• Cameras are allowed in some state courtrooms
but are banned in federal courts.g

27. Chapter 14
Media Law: Understanding Freedom
of Expression
Chapter Outline
• History
• Today’s Media Law
• Controversies

28. Mass Media
Jason Nix
Journalism Instructor and
Program Director
JOURN 110
Spokane Falls Community College