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Main Points
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  • There is a strong constitutional case against prior restraint of the press.

  • Reporters have special privileges that protect them in some instances from having to reveal the names of their news sources. These privileges, however, are not absolute.

  • Reporters can cover matters that occur in open court with little fear of reprisal. Some pretrial proceedings can still be closed to the press.

  • All but two states now allow cameras in the courtroom on a permanent or experimental basis. Cameras and microphones are still barred from federal trial courts and from the Supreme Court.

  • Defamation can be either libel or slander. To prevail in a defamation suit, a public figure must show that the published material was false and harmful and that the media acted with actual malice when they published the information. A private citizen must also show that the material was false and harmful and that the media involved acted with negligence.

  • Invasion of privacy can occur when the media intrude upon a person's solitude, release private information, create a false impression, or wrongfully appropriate a person's name or likeness.

  • Copyright law protects authors from unfair use of their work. There are instances, however, when portions of copyrighted material can be reproduced for legitimate purposes.

  • Online file-sharing systems have raised serious questions about copyrights in a digital medium.

  • Obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment. To be legally obscene, a work must appeal to prurient interests, depict or describe certain sexual conduct spelled out by state law, and lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

  • Special regulations and laws apply to broadcasting. The FCC is charged with administering the rules and regulations that deal with cable, TV, and radio. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 had a major impact on the electronic media.

  • The FTC oversees advertising. Commercial speech has recently been given more First Amendment protection.








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