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Government Control of News: A Constitutional Challenge
Because of the overwhelming changes in media within the past twenty years, First Amendment values are more vital than ever to this country's freedom. This thorough study brings to the forefront the reasons that government regulation of news content violates the public interest and the fundamental principles of the First Amendment. A recent FCC decision may even threaten the freedom of news on the Internet. The U.S. State Department urged at World Press Freedom Day in 2011 that journalists should not be the only ones standing for press freedom. "Each one of us who recognize the value of an informed citizenry must also stand up for this fundamental right."* *www.misa.org/mediarelease/pressfreedo...
- GenresNonfiction
296 pages, Hardcover
First published December 20, 2011
About the author
Corydon B. Dunham
4 books7 followersCorydon B. Dunham is a Harvard Law School graduate. His “Government Control of News” study was expanded and developed for the Corydon B. Dunham Fellowship for the First Amendment at Harvard Law School and the Dunham Open Forum for First Amendment Values at Bowdoin College. Dunham was an executive at NBC from 1965 to 1990. He oversaw legal and governmental matters, and Broadcast Standards. He was on the board of directors of the National Television Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 9, 2017
"Government Control of News: A Constitutional Challenge" is informative and well researched. Having worked in the newspaper industry I was anticipating a more balanced portrayal of the news industry in general but this book leans toward television news. I was a bit disappointed by the title but did learn a lot about the Fairness Doctrine. In my humble opinion, the news should not be a for profit industry.
February 15, 2017
(I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway.)
(I was torn between giving three stars and four stars. Perhaps I can say that as an actual read it was a three, whereas as a reference, it was a four.)
“Government Control of the News” was a decent read, but there were two serious problems. The first, is that the title and description are somewhat misleading. The book focuses the vast majority of its attention on the Fairness Doctrine and its detrimental effects on television. “A Constitutional Challenge” refers to free speech objections, but does not go into very much legal detail. I enjoyed the book nonetheless, but potential readers should be warned that the internet is discussed only very briefly, and the press not at all. I would have liked to see a very brief overview of, say, the Alien and Sedition Act or the First Red Scare. I would have liked even more to see an overview of state threats to the internet, and what is presented here is mediocre at best.
The second issue was that the book was somewhat repetitive. Many books suffer from this trait but Dunham repeats key events, points, and even quotations too often. The work could easily have been a third shorter and lost none of its efficacy.
That said, there were some very useful aspects of the book. Despite its repetitiveness, it was not overlong. It makes a good reference for those interested in the relation between the media and the state. There are also many notes, and four appendices meaning that despite the slightly unfulfilling read, any politics, law, or history nerd will appreciate the text as a reference.
Perhaps the best way to summarize “Government Control of the News” is that it makes its point indirectly. It is a cautionary tale of what damage fifty years of FCC meddling in television can achieve. At this task, it was successful. Though not what I expected, and though somewhat lacking, it was informative enough.
(I was torn between giving three stars and four stars. Perhaps I can say that as an actual read it was a three, whereas as a reference, it was a four.)
“Government Control of the News” was a decent read, but there were two serious problems. The first, is that the title and description are somewhat misleading. The book focuses the vast majority of its attention on the Fairness Doctrine and its detrimental effects on television. “A Constitutional Challenge” refers to free speech objections, but does not go into very much legal detail. I enjoyed the book nonetheless, but potential readers should be warned that the internet is discussed only very briefly, and the press not at all. I would have liked to see a very brief overview of, say, the Alien and Sedition Act or the First Red Scare. I would have liked even more to see an overview of state threats to the internet, and what is presented here is mediocre at best.
The second issue was that the book was somewhat repetitive. Many books suffer from this trait but Dunham repeats key events, points, and even quotations too often. The work could easily have been a third shorter and lost none of its efficacy.
That said, there were some very useful aspects of the book. Despite its repetitiveness, it was not overlong. It makes a good reference for those interested in the relation between the media and the state. There are also many notes, and four appendices meaning that despite the slightly unfulfilling read, any politics, law, or history nerd will appreciate the text as a reference.
Perhaps the best way to summarize “Government Control of the News” is that it makes its point indirectly. It is a cautionary tale of what damage fifty years of FCC meddling in television can achieve. At this task, it was successful. Though not what I expected, and though somewhat lacking, it was informative enough.
February 23, 2017
Dunham's treatise on the subject of Government control of news is concise and well written. I ti s a terrific look at the history of the FCC control and the Governments attempts to create a fair & balanced news system.
What I found sorely lacking was any definitive ways of preventing the news service (as a whole) from becoming so skewed that it fails to report the reality of the issues. This inability to monitor themselves has created a pandemic of "fake news" stories, which is best described as either truly false stories or stories that are not important blown up with hyperbole, until it is a complete distraction from stories that are important.
I hope that Dunham will take up the challenge of how this growing problem can be addressed and overcome.
What I found sorely lacking was any definitive ways of preventing the news service (as a whole) from becoming so skewed that it fails to report the reality of the issues. This inability to monitor themselves has created a pandemic of "fake news" stories, which is best described as either truly false stories or stories that are not important blown up with hyperbole, until it is a complete distraction from stories that are important.
I hope that Dunham will take up the challenge of how this growing problem can be addressed and overcome.
March 1, 2017
It is interesting to read the book "Government Control of News: A Constitutional Challenge" in the context of the current Trump vs. the media nowadays.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews