Although the First Amendment doesn’t mention freedom of access to
courtrooms, the Supreme Court has held that the public right to attend
criminal proceedings is implied.

The American Society of News Editors concerns itself with issues of
importance to newspaper editors and journalism in general, including First
Amendment issues.

Blogging implicates many First Amendment issues. These include whether
bloggers are protected by shield laws, anonymous defamatory messages, and
campaign-finance matters.

Founded in the 1970s to provide public access to the political process,
C-SPAN began airing floor activities of the House of Representatives in
1979.

Allowing cameras in courtrooms has stirred controversy and led to Supreme
Court decisions in First Amendment cases. The Court has allowed states to
experiment with this issue.

The Supreme Court in 1971 ruled that the government cannot restrain in
advance the press from publishing classified documents under the First
Amendment.

Some courts recognize a reporters’ privilege to not reveal confidential
sources as a First Amendment right, but each jurisdiction varies in the
level of protection.

The fair report privilege is a state-law defense to defamation claims used
by journalists, although the level of protection may vary by state. Under
the privilege, a journalist is insulated from a defamation claim when he or
she publishes a defamatory comment that was part of official affairs of the
government.

Although the Court has said that the FCC can regulate fleeting expletives,
it has also overturned FCC sanctions, not on First Amendment grounds, but
because of vague policies.

Freedom of the press is a Constitutional guarantee contained in the First Amendment, which in turn is part of the Bill of Rights. This freedom protects the right to gather information and report it to others. While at the time of ratification in 1791, the free press clause addressed newspapers, it now applies to all

The FCC defines indecency in the broadcast industries and regulates the
content of television and radio broadcasts to prevent the airing of
inappropriate material.

Critics of ownership concentration in the news media business say that it
threatens the marketplace of ideas and poses a threat to First Amendment
freedoms.

To promote diversity of ideas under the First Amendment, the Supreme Court
has sometimes allowed news media organizations to have exemptions to
antitrust laws.

The Media Institute is a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit organization that
specializes in publications on First Amendment issues in the communications
arena.

The Media Law Resource Center is a nonprofit that was formed “to monitor
developments and promote First Amendment rights in the libel, privacy and
related legal fields.”

The National Press Club, founded in 1908 and open to all who supply news,
has sought to keep First Amendment issues front and center in the public
eye.

The Newseum is an “interactive museum of news” built by the Freedom Forum
to promote greater public appreciation for First Amendment freedoms and the
rich history of journalism.

Legislation designed to control the intrusive activities of paparazzi
represents a collision between individual privacy and First Amendment free
press rights.

The First Amendment appears to provide a special right for the press,
however the Supreme Court has taken a narrow view of the “press clause” and
held that the press does not have greater rights than those accorded to the
public in general. Some scholars have criticized this viewpoint and argued
that the press role of keeping the public informed calls for a different
interpretation.

Privacy generally refers to an individual’s right to seclusion or right to
be free from public interference. Often privacy claims clash with First
Amendment rights

Concerns about First Amendment rights led to the establishment of the
public radio system, in which nonprofit corporations maintain primary
control over the content of their shows.

American public television is premised on the idea that stations should be
independently owned and operated to further the full exercise of First
Amendment freedoms.

The idea behind reporter’s privilege is that journalists have a limited
First Amendment right not to be forced to reveal a confidential source or
information in court.

Many states have adopted retraction statutes that allow the press to reduce
liability if they publish a correction within a certain time period.
Because defamatory statements are not considered protected under the First
Amendment, retraction help mitigate potential damages from an editorial
mistake.

Though they are private businesses and not government entities, U.S. social media platforms have nonetheless been at the center of a number of free speech disputes. Social media is a method of internet-based communication in which users create communities and share information, videos and personal messages with each other. Some of the most popular social media

The Student Press Law Center is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to
defending the First Amendment rights of high school and college journalists.

Newspaper taxation controversies that have emerged since the writing of the
First Amendment have largely focused on taxation used to penalize certain
publications.

The First Amendment-related issue of whistleblowing, exposing illegal
conduct that violates norms of accountability, has been protected by
federal and state law.

Yellow journalism, sensationalistic or biased stories that newspapers
present as objective truth, was created by William Randolph Hearst and
Joseph Pulitzer.