Mass Communication Law

"This is the best all-around media law text for undergraduate and graduate students alike. The clear, nonthreatening writing style of the authors, by itself, sets this book apart. And yet, it does so by not leaving out any important areas of inquiry. That’s why my colleagues and I continue to adopt this for all of our media law classes." —Jonathan Kotler, University of Southern California In The Law of Journalism and Mass Communication, authors Susan Dente Ross, Amy Reynolds, and Robert Trager present a lively, up-to-date, and comprehensive introduction to media law that brings the law to life for future professional communicators. The book is grounded in the traditions and rules of law but also contains fresh facts and relevant examples that keep readers engaged. Tightly focused breakout boxes highlight contemporary examples of the law in action or emphasize central points of law as well as intersections with international law and policy. The thoroughly updated Seventh Edition contains a wealth of new content that is as timely as possible—from the U.S. Supreme Court, federal and state courts, Congress, executive agencies, federal and state policymakers and advisory groups, and media organizations and allies. A refreshed look, feel, and flow of chapters provide readers an understanding of fast-expanding areas of the law and legal complexities.

Media Law: A Guide to Understanding Mass Communication Law

Expert authors discuss the First Amendment in detail, as well as defamation and mass communication. Includes a completely new chapter on Internet law, covering issues such as indecency, Web sites with bomb recipes, defamation and anonymous postings, blocking cookies, encryption, spamming, copyright infringement, domain names and convergence. Further highlights include recent Supreme Court rulings on "ride-along" cases, nude dancing, and commercial speech, covering issues such as banning advertising for lawful but harmful products such as tobacco. There is also an expanded discussion of journalists' access to courtroom proceeding and judicial documents.

The Law of Journalism and Mass Communication, Sixth Edition, by Robert Trager, Susan Dente Ross, and Amy Reynolds offers a clear and engaging introduction to media law with comprehensive coverage and analysis of key cases for future journalists and media professionals. You are introduced to key legal issues at the start of each chapter, building your critical thinking skills before progressing to real-world landmark cases that demonstrate how media law is applied today. Contemporary examples, emerging legal topics, international issues, and cutting-edge research all help you to retain and apply principles of media law in practice. The thoroughly revised Sixth Edition has been reorganized and shortened to 12 chapters, streamlining the content and offering instructors more opportunities for classroom activities. This edition also goes beyond the judiciary—including discussions of tweets and public protests, alcohol ads in university newspapers, global data privacy and cybersecurity, libel on the internet, and free speech on college campuses—to show how the law affects the ways mass communication works and how people perceive and receive that work.

This text provides a comprehensive survey of media law. It is the original modern casebook in mass communication law, emphasizing learning of law principles and precedents directly from the writings of courts and administrative agencies.

Digital media law is now the dynamic legal territory. Mass Media Law: The Printing Press to the Internet is a textbook designed to introduce students to the panoply of legal theories raised by the Internet revolution as well as those supporting traditional media. The book takes a historical approach beginning with the printing press and the telegraph and proceeding to the digital technologies of today, such as social media and search engines. Concepts such as defamation, broadcast regulation, privacy, and free expression are covered along with new media legal theories including Internet exceptionalism, cyber libertarianism, and digital speech and democratic culture. These are introduced to explain why traditional theories such as First Amendment medium-specific analysis, common carriage, and network neutrality are just as relevant today as they were in the early twentieth century. In order to help readers develop critical reasoning skills, each chapter opens with a highly readable realworld vignette and goes on to identify and explain legal doctrines and tests. Key passages from court opinions are highlighted, and each chapter closes with a list of online media law resources and thought-provoking questions, including legal hypotheticals, to give readers a solid understanding of the area in question. Mass Media Law is designed to be the main text and a valuable resource for undergraduate and graduate courses covering media, mass communication, free expression, and journalism law.

This text provides a comprehensive survey of media law. It is the original modern casebook in mass communication law, emphasizing learning of law principles and precedents directly from the writings of courts and administrative agencies.