FREEDOM OF THE PRESS

 

freedom of the press.The right to print and publish materials without governmental

intervention, as guaranteed by the First Amendment. — Also termed liberty of the press. [Cases:

Constitutional Law 90.1(8). C.J.S. Constitutional Law §§ 552, 554, 562–565, 597–598,

603–604.] “ ‘Freedom of the press’ has less significance than meets the eye. It is true, of course, that the

First Amendment specifically guarantees freedom of the press as well as free speech, and the

media often ascribe the freedom they enjoy to the Press Clause. Even the Supreme Court

occasionally emits rhetoric that implies as much. But as a matter of positive law, the Press Clause

actually plays a rather minor role in protecting the freedom of the press. Most of the freedoms the

press receives from the First Amendment are no different from the freedoms everyone enjoys

under the Speech Clause. The press is protected from most government censorship, libel

judgments, and prior restraints not because it is the press but because the Speech Clause protects

all of us from those threats.” David A. Anderson, Freedom of the Press, 80 Tex. L. Rev. 429, 430

(2002).[Blacks Law 8th]