This primary source collection will help readers to understand how the press has been vilified (usually by powerful political or corporate interests) over the course of American history, with a special focus on current events and how these efforts to censor or influence news coverage often flout First Amendment protections concerning freedom of the press. Selected documents highlight efforts to intimidate, silence, condemn, marginalize, and otherwise undercut the credibility and influence of American journalism from the colonial era through the Trump presidency.
Most of the featured documents focus on efforts borne out of self-interested attempts to shape or conceal news for political or economic gain or personal fame, but coverage also includes instances in which press actions, attitudes, or priorities deserved censure. All told, the collection will be a valuable resource for understanding the importance of a free press to American life (and the constitutional basis for preserving such), the motivations (both selfish and altruistic) of critics of American journalism from the earliest days of the Republic to today, and the impact of all of the above on American society.
Author(s): Jessica Roberts, Adam Maksl
Series: Documentary and Reference Guides
Publisher: Greenwood
Year: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 407
City: Santa Barbara
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Contents
Reader’s Guide to Related Documents and Sidebars
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1. Threats to the Press during Wartime
Document 1. The Sedition Act of 1798
Document 2. President Abraham Lincoln’s Executive Order, 1864
Document 3. President Woodrow Wilson’s Letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman, 1917
Document 4. The Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918
Document 5. The U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision in Schenck v. United States, 1919
Document 6. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Executive Order 8985, 1941
Document 7. The U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision in New York Times v. United States, 1971
Document 8. Ann Cooper’s Speech on the Press and the War on Terrorism, 2004
Chapter 2. Criticizing the Press as Sensational
Document 9. James Fenimore Cooper’s “On the American Press,” 1838
Document 10. Robert Ellis Thompson’s “The Age of Newspapers,” 1883
Document 11. Brandeis and Warren’s “The Right to Privacy,” 1890
Document 12. Excerpts from President Theodore Roosevelt’s Muck-Rake Address, 1906
Document 13. James Edward Rogers’s “The American Newspaper,” 1909
Document 14. President Harry Truman’s Letter to Dean Acheson, 1955
Document 15. Representative Maurice Hinchey’s Statement on Coverage of President Bill Clinton, 1998
Document 16. Senator James Inhofe’s Statement about Climate Change Alarmism, 2006
Chapter 3. Legal Attacks on the Press
Document 17. The U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision in New York Times v. Sullivan, 1964
Document 18. The U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision in Cohen v. Cowles Media Co., 1991
Document 19. The Memorandum of Decision in the case of Cochran v. New York Post Holdings, Inc. and Peyser, 1998
Document 20. The U.S. Court of Appeals Decision in Food Lion, Inc. v. Capital Cities/ABC, 1999
Document 21. Brief for the United States in Judith Miller v. United States, 2005
Document 22. The Motion for Injunction in the Case of Terry Bollea v. Gawker Media, 2012
Document 23. The Report of the Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility on Subpoenas of Associated Press Phone Records, 2014
Document 24. Statement from the Committee to Protect Journalists on the arrest of Julian Assange, 2019
Document 25. Lawsuits Filed by the Donald Trump campaign against News Organizations, 2020
Chapter 4. Physical Attacks on Journalists
Document 26. Benjamin Franklin’s Account of the Supremest Court of Judicature, 1789
Document 27. The Last Speech of Abolitionist Publisher Elijah Lovejoy, 1837
Document 28. Story and Editorial from Canton (OH) Daily News on Their Murdered Editor, 1926
Document 29. Excerpts from The Arizona Project about Slain Journalist Don Bolles, 1977
Document 30. Statement from the Los Angeles Police Department on the Murder of a Citizen Journalist, 2002
Document 31. Stories compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists regarding Chauncey Bailey, 2007
Document 32. Editorial published in the Capital Gazette after a Shooting at Their Newsroom, 2018
Document 33. President Donald Trump’s Statement on the Murder of Jamal Khashoggi, 2018
Chapter 5. Attacks on Perceived Media Bias
Document 34. Editorial in The Atlantic Monthly, 1908
Document 35. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Press Conference, 1935
Document 36. Statement from Representative Lamar Smith on Media Bias, 2008
Document 37. Testimony to the U.S. House from Dan Gainor, 2009
Document 38. Statement from Senator Sheldon Whitehouse on Climate Change, 2013
Document 39. Paper by Jackie Calmes, “They Don’t Give a Damn about Governing,” 2015
Document 40. Willnat, Weaver, and Wilhoit on The American Journalist in the Digital Age, 2017
Document 41. Tweets about Fox News and the Democratic National Convention, 2019
Chapter 6. Aspirational Critiques
Document 42. Walter Lippmann’s “Journalism and the Higher Law,” 1920
Document 43. Hutchins Commission Report on Freedom of the Press, 1947
Document 44. Kerner Commission Report on “The News Media and the Disorders,” 1968
Document 45. Testimony on Media Coverage of the 2000 Election, 2001
Document 46. Interview with Reporters on Civil Rights Coverage, 2004
Document 47. Testimony on the Future of Journalism, 2009
Document 48. Leonard Downie Jr. and Michael Schudson, Reconstruction of American Journalism, 2009
Document 49. Union of Concerned Scientists’ Report on Coverage of Climate Science, 2014
Chapter 7. Politicians Attacking the Press
Document 50. President George Washington’s Letter on the Press, 1793
Document 51. President Thomas Jefferson’s Letters on Newspapers, 1803 and 1807
Document 52. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Press Conference, 1938
Document 53. Senator Joseph McCarthy’s Reply to Edward R. Murrow, 1954
Document 54. President John F. Kennedy’s Address on the President and the Press, 1961
Document 55. President Richard Nixon’s News Conference on Tape Recordings, 1973
Document 56. President Barack Obama’s Remarks on Polarized Politics, 2016
Chapter 8. Attacks in the Era of Social Media and Fake News
Document 57. President Donald Trump’s Tweets on “Fake News,” 2016–2020
Document 58. Statement from the Committee to Protect Journalists about the Trump Presidency, 2016
Document 59. President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” Rally in Youngstown, Ohio, 2017
Document 60. Opposition to the SESTA-FOSTA Act, 2017
Document 61. The Journalist Protection Act, 2018
Document 62. Senator Jeff Flake’s Statement on “Truth and Democracy,” 2018
Document 63. Coordinated Editorials Condemning President Trump, 2018
Document 64. Department of Justice’s Announcement of Charges against Cesar Sayoc, 2018
Document 65. Announcements of Hiring and Removal of Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, 2019–2020
Document 66. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s Statement about an NPR Reporter, 2020
Chronology
Bibliography
Index
About the Authors
