The Future of Press Freedom: Scholars Series
This series features short contributions from a select group of multidisciplinary scholars who have long studied and written about matters related to freedom of the press. These pieces draw together observations and theories from each author’s body of work to illuminate how we might better define and protect the core democracy-enhancing press functions.
This series is part of the Institute’s The Future of Press Freedom: Democracy, Law, and the News in Changing Times research project led by visiting scholars RonNell Andersen Jones and Sonja R. West.
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Deep Dive: The Future of Press Freedom: Scholars Series
Defamation Law and the Crumbling Legitimacy of the Fourth Estate
Although U.S. defamation law needs reform, eliminating “exceptionalism” will do little to solve the crisis of legitimacy facing the press.
By Lyrissa Lidsky -
Deep Dive: The Future of Press Freedom: Scholars Series
Post-Newspaper Democracy and the Rise of Communicative Citizenship: The Good Citizen as Good Communicator
People, in addition to the media, should facilitate the flow of reliable civic information.
By Nik Usher -
Deep Dive: The Future of Press Freedom: Scholars Series
Fitting a Square Peg into a Round Hole: Why Traditional Free Press Doctrines Fail in Dealing With Newer Media
There are areas of social media and the internet wherein existing First Amendment doctrine is likely to fail.
By Erwin Chemerinsky -
Deep Dive: The Future of Press Freedom: Scholars Series
The Constitutional Exceptionalism of Religion & the Press
Protecting the press as an exceptional democratic institution
By Amanda Shanor -
Deep Dive: The Future of Press Freedom: Scholars Series
Journalism and Academia: Knowledge Institutions Buttressing Constitutional Democracy
By Vicki C. JacksonAn analysis of two different knowledge institutions that serve democracies
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Deep Dive: The Future of Press Freedom: Scholars Series
What Journalists “Know” About Our Free Press That Just Ain’t So
Journalists today share a nostalgia for a past that never was.
By Michael Schudson -
Deep Dive: The Future of Press Freedom: Scholars Series
Are We Saving the News?
An analysis of the decline in local news sources and recommendations for reform
By Martha Minow -
Deep Dive: The Future of Press Freedom: Scholars Series
Press Benefits and the Public Imagination
Rethinking rhetoric about the value of the press
By Erin Carroll -
Deep Dive: The Future of Press Freedom: Scholars Series
Returning FOIA to the Press
A case for structural reforms to restore FOIA's value to journalists
By Margaret Kwoka -
Deep Dive: The Future of Press Freedom: Scholars Series
The Long Shadow of Food Lion
A Fourth Circuit case has deterred undercover investigative journalism nationwide.
By Alan K. Chen
Litigation
Press Statement
USDA Reverses Course, Commits to Restore Purged Climate Webpages in Response to Farmers’ Lawsuit
The Trump administration will restore access to vital resources for climate-smart agriculture, forest conservation, climate change adaptation, and rural clean energy projects
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Essays and Scholarship
Protecting Immigrant Activists From U.S. Government Retaliation: Lessons From First Amendment Litigation
Immigrant activists in the U.S. face legal and structural barriers when fighting First Amendment retaliation.
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Essays and Scholarship
AI as Normal Technology
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Litigation
Press Statement
Fourth Circuit Revives Challenge to Policy Silencing Immigration Judges
The independence of agencies charged with protecting employee rights has been compromised by Trump administration, court suggests
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