From colonial times to the present, the media in America has been subject to censorship challenges and regulations. This comprehensive reference guide to media censorship provides in-depth coverage of each media format—newspapers, magazines, motion pictures, radio, television, and the Internet—all of which have been, and continue to be, battlegrounds for First Amendment issues. Each media format is examined in-depth, from its origins and history through its modern development, and features discussion of landmark incidents and cases. Foerstel, author of Banned in the U.S.A., the acclaimed reference guide to book censorship in schools and public libraries, offers a brief history of media censorship, examines in-depth the drama of seven landmark incidents, and includes 31 relevant court cases. Complementing the volume are personal interviews with prominent victims of media censorship, who give human voice to the struggle of the media to remain free, and an examination of censorship of the student press.
Fascinating examples of media censorship abound, from Peter Zenger's prerevolutionary trial for seditious libel to the modern tobacco industry's invocation of tortious interference to silence television news and the current rash of Internet censorship incidents. Chapter 1 offers a brief history of censorship of each of the media types. Chapter 2 features indepth analysis of seven landmark media censorship incidents: the trial of John Peter Zenger, H. L. Mencken and the hatrack case, John Henry Faulk and the radio blacklist, Progressive magazine's exposé on the H-bomb secret, government labeling of three documentary films as political propaganda, television's tobacco wars, and Carnegie Mellon's attempt to censor students' access to the Internet. Chapter 3 examines 31 media censorship court cases from 1735 to 1997. Chapter 4 features exclusive interviews with media figures involved in censorship issues or cases—Paul Jarrico, Howard Morland, Peter Sussman, Daniel Schorr, Walter Cronkite, and Jerry Berman. Appendix A takes a look at censorship and response regarding the student press during the 1990s, after the landmark Hazelwood decision in 1988—an important topic for students in every high school. Appendix B contains a resource list of media advocacy and censorship organizations. A selected bibliography of books and electronic resources completes the text. This volume is of interest to high school and college students, teachers, librarians and scholars, and all those who are affected by these crucial First Amendment issues.
