Description
Book SynopsisStephen Gillers proposes a bold set of legal and policy changes to strengthen the freedom of the press and support the free press as a public good, including protecting news gathering and confidential sources. Journalism Under Fire weaves together practice, law, and policy into a program that can ensure a future for investigative reporting.
Trade ReviewJournalism Under Fire issues an extraordinarily timely five-alarm warning. It is a forceful response to those who today—and in the future—would demean and disparage the essential importance of a free press to American democracy. One of America’s leading ethicists and legal scholars, Stephen Gillers also reminds us why supporting and protecting investigative reporting is an essential antidote to corporate and government abuse of power and threats to democratic institutions. This book is for any citizen who wants to better understand what is at stake and who seeks bold ideas for how to keep our democracy and press free and strong in the Trump era—and beyond. -- Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher,
The NationGillers expertly weaves together legal texts, public policy, and normative theory to shed new light on the Press Clause, which, as the work makes clear, has been largely abandoned by the Supreme Court in recent years. The book develops a persuasive and coherent Press Clause theory and outlines its practical implications. -- Jonathan Peters, University of Georgia
Using a careful and subtle reading of the Constitution and recent legal examples to buttress its case, this work provides an important, sustained argument about the Press Clause of the First Amendment. A timely, significant book by a leading legal thinker. -- Tom Goldstein, University of California, Berkeley
Penetrating and essential... -- Bruce Shapiro * The Nation *
Gillers is under no illusions that his program will be adopted anytime soon, but his superb examination of where we are and where we should be headed is immensely valuable, nevertheless. * Technical Communication *
Gillers’s book is the antidote for those infected with wealth and power that seek to exploit, cover-up or otherwise demean the freedom of the Press to use investigative journalism as a tool for the greater good along with the proper policy, practice, and legal changes that can ensure a future for investigative reporting in a thriving democracy. -- Adrienne A. Wallace, Grand Valley State University * Journalism & Mass Communicators Educator *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction
1. What Does the Press Clause Mean?
2. What and Who Is “The Press”?
3. What Does the Press Clause Demand of the Press?
4. Protection of Confidential Information
5. Press Clause Protection for Newsgathering
6. Three Legislative Changes to Safeguard Investigative Reporting
In Conclusion: Potter Stewart’s Truth
Notes
Index
