SCRAMBLING FOR PROTECTION: THE NEW MEDIA AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT (Paperback Ed.)

In Scrambling for Protection, Patrick Garry asserts that such dramatic developments in electronic communications will radically change the way society communicates. Already, computer networks and bulletin boards are creating, in essence, electronic editorial pages on which people can register their viewpoints. Indeed, the new and increasingly interactive media promise to more significantly involve the public in the process of social communication. This concept of change lies at the heart of Scrambling for Protection. Garry offers models and guidelines for constitutionally redefining the press and asserts that, as both the press and the First Amendment move away from an apparently exclusive focus on journalists, the First Amendment press clause must broaden the scope of its freedoms to include the communication activities of a much larger public. Only a broad, functional definition of the press can provide an escape from the confusing regulatory maze currently facing the different types of media. Scrambling for Protection contains a wealth of information on the current and future press. This exciting volume examines not only First Amendment legal doctrine, but the aspirations and failings of broadcast journalism and the coming age of media innovations