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Uninhibited, Robust, and Wide-Open: A Free Press for a New Century
Lee Bollinger is one of our foremost experts on the First Amendment--both an erudite scholar and elegant advocate. In this sweeping account, he explores the troubled history of a free press in America and looks toward the challenges ahead.
The first amendment guaranteed freedom of the press in seemingly clear terms. However, over the course of American history, Bollinger notes, the idea of press freedom has evolved, in response to social, political, technological, and legal changes. It was not until the twentieth century that freedom of the press came to be understood as guaranteeing an "uninhibited, robust and wide-open" public discourse. But even during the twentieth century, government continually tried to erect the sedition laws of World War One, the use of libel law, the Pentagon Papers case, and efforts to limit press access to information.
Bollinger utilizes this history to explore the meaning of freedom of the press in our globalized, internet-dominated era. As he shows, we have now entered uncharted territory. What does press freedom mean when our news outlets can instantaneously disseminate information throughout the world? When foreign media have immediate access to the American market? Bollinger stresses that even though the law will surely evolve in the coming years, we must maintain our commitment to a press that is "uninhibited, robust, and wide-open," not only in America but everywhere. Given the new ability of foreign media to reach the United States via the Internet and vice versa, it is in America's national interest for press freedoms to expand overseas. While protecting the freedom of the press at home remains a crucial task, the next challenge is to help create a global public forum suitable for an increasingly interconnected world. Part of Oxford's landmark Inalienable Rights series, this book will
set the agenda for how we think about the press in the twenty-first century.
The first amendment guaranteed freedom of the press in seemingly clear terms. However, over the course of American history, Bollinger notes, the idea of press freedom has evolved, in response to social, political, technological, and legal changes. It was not until the twentieth century that freedom of the press came to be understood as guaranteeing an "uninhibited, robust and wide-open" public discourse. But even during the twentieth century, government continually tried to erect the sedition laws of World War One, the use of libel law, the Pentagon Papers case, and efforts to limit press access to information.
Bollinger utilizes this history to explore the meaning of freedom of the press in our globalized, internet-dominated era. As he shows, we have now entered uncharted territory. What does press freedom mean when our news outlets can instantaneously disseminate information throughout the world? When foreign media have immediate access to the American market? Bollinger stresses that even though the law will surely evolve in the coming years, we must maintain our commitment to a press that is "uninhibited, robust, and wide-open," not only in America but everywhere. Given the new ability of foreign media to reach the United States via the Internet and vice versa, it is in America's national interest for press freedoms to expand overseas. While protecting the freedom of the press at home remains a crucial task, the next challenge is to help create a global public forum suitable for an increasingly interconnected world. Part of Oxford's landmark Inalienable Rights series, this book will
set the agenda for how we think about the press in the twenty-first century.
210 pages, Hardcover
First published December 16, 2009
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About the author
Lee C. Bollinger
27 books5 followersLee C. Bollinger, J.D. (Columbia Law School), has served as the president of Columbia University since 2002 and is the longest serving Ivy League president. He is Columbia’s first Seth Low Professor of the University, a member of the Columbia Law School faculty, and one of the country’s foremost First Amendment scholars.
From 1996 to 2002, Bollinger was the president of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He led the school’s litigation in Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger, resulting in Supreme Court decisions that upheld and clarified the importance of diversity as a compelling justification for affirmative action in higher education. He speaks and writes frequently about the value of racial, cultural, and socio-economic diversity to American society through opinion columns, media interviews, and public appearances.
Bollinger served as a law clerk to Judge Wilfred Feinberg of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Chief Justice Warren Burger of the Supreme Court. He went on to join the faculty of the University of Michigan Law School in 1973, becoming dean of the school in 1987. He became provost of Dartmouth College in 1994 before returning to the University of Michigan in 1996 as president.
From 1996 to 2002, Bollinger was the president of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He led the school’s litigation in Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger, resulting in Supreme Court decisions that upheld and clarified the importance of diversity as a compelling justification for affirmative action in higher education. He speaks and writes frequently about the value of racial, cultural, and socio-economic diversity to American society through opinion columns, media interviews, and public appearances.
Bollinger served as a law clerk to Judge Wilfred Feinberg of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Chief Justice Warren Burger of the Supreme Court. He went on to join the faculty of the University of Michigan Law School in 1973, becoming dean of the school in 1987. He became provost of Dartmouth College in 1994 before returning to the University of Michigan in 1996 as president.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 7, 2021
Well-considered and deeply written, with a penetrating analysis of the doctrines bringing life to the First Amendment. The discussion of the First Amendment's reach beyond U.S. legal structures is innovative and fascinating at times, but in part feels dated by the extraordinary speed of change in digital media over the decade since it was written. But a valuable argument nonetheless that free trade agreements might serve as an effective vehicle to carry the free exchange of ideas across borders with the force of international law.
January 31, 2020
A little outdated in regards to its discussion of globalization and the Internet, but the lessons very much still ring true. We need to create a global free expression norm, and this book sets out a few good examples of where to start.
January 23, 2012
Although it does read like a textbook at times, this is a very informative account of how the U.S. press arrived at its current state (in regards to the First Amendment), and it also argues for a more globally interconnected press to keep pace with the digital age.
June 27, 2013
A tidy little number on freedom of the press. Gets a bit slow at times, especially towards the end, but overall interesting and educational.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews