Check the previous blog to see if I received your Proust Questionnaire. There were a couple of blog names I did not recognize, so we can straighten that out. Otherwise, if you are reading this in class, and I do not have your responses, they are currently late at a rate of 10 points off per day.
.jpg)
Notes from Anthony Lewis's Freedom for the Thought We Hate.There will be an assessment on Monday 20 September. It will consist of the identification of terms and an essay choice. While the notes are useful, they will in no way supplant your having read and marked up your own text. (you are welcome to print the notes out.)
Notes on Freedom for the Thought That We Hate by Anthony Lewis
Introduction / Chapter 1: Beginnings
Judicial Activism: The charge that judges are going beyond their appropriate powers and engaging in making law and not merely interpreting it. Against this position is placed the ideal of judicial restraint, which counsels judges to resist the temptation to influence public policy through their decisions and decrees. Judicial activism is not prisoner to any particular ideological or political viewpoint; it can be conservative as well as liberal.
----history, law and culture contribute to this process
Common law- law defined not by explicit statutes but by judicial decree
Voters are the ultimate sovereigns in a republic
Repressive devices
1. Royal Licensing System- one needed a license to publish anything
2. Law of Seditious Libel- crime to publish anything seditious or disrespectful of the state or church
These policies would supposedly prevent social chaos
1735- John Peter Zenger- jury found him not guilty under the Seditious Libel Act, as what he published was true (NY printer; attacked royal governor)
Prior Restraint: A prior restraint is an official restriction of speech prior to publication. Prior restraints are viewed by the U.S. Supreme Court as "the most serious and the least tolerable infringement on First Amendment rights." Since 1931, the Court repeatedly has found that such attempts to censor the media are presumed unconstitutional
Quock Walker- 1780- slave promised freedom; when not given he ran away. Found and beaten. Owner Jennison prosecuted for assault and battery, but argued that he had a right to punish runaway slave. Judge Cushing used Massachusetts’ Constitution’s words “All men are born free and equal” to show that was “incompatible with slavery” Ended slavery in Ma.
Jefferson’s argument to Madison- a Bill of Rights is a “legal check put in the hands of the judiciary”
Originalists- interpreted the Constitution by looking at the “original intention of its Framers’
Chapter 2: “Odious or Contemptible”
Legislating Sedition- fear of French terrorism
Madisonian Premise- the premise of the American political system, which says that Americans have “the right of freely examining public characters and measures”
Feature of Sedition Act that did not disappear- “the political use of fear to justify repression.” (think communists in 20th century)
Chapter 3 “As All Life is an Experiment”
Fourteenth Amendment- provided that no state could “deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law”
Espionage Act- 100’s prosecuted for speaking or writing critically; they were considered disloyal
Schenk v. United States- decision that upheld the Espionage Act of 1917 and concluded that a defendant did not have a First Amendment right to free speech against the draft during World War I. Charles Schenck was the Secretary of the Socialist party and was responsible for printing, distributing, and mailing 15,000 leaflets to men eligible for the draft that advocated opposition to the draft. These leaflets contained statements such as; "Do not submit to intimidation", "Assert your rights", "If you do not assert and support your rights, you are helping to deny or disparage rights which it is the solemn duty of all citizens and residents of the United States to retain." Ultimately, the case served as the founding of the "clear and present danger" rule. (potential harm)
Debs v. United States - labor and political leader and five-time Socialist Party of America candidate for the American Presidency. On June 16, 1918 Debs made an anti-war speech in Canton, Ohio, protesting US involvement in World War I, and he was subsequently arrested under the Espionage Act of 1917. He was convicted and sentenced to serve ten years in prison and disenfranchised for life. While Debs had carefully guarded his speeches in an attempt to comply with the Espionage Act, the Court found he had still shown the "intention and effect of obstructing the draft and recruitment for the war." Among other things, the Court cited Debs's praise for those imprisoned for obstructing the draft. – compare to anti-war protests in Vietnam and Iraq.
Oliver Wendel Holmes – “punish speech that produces and is intended to produce a clear and imminent danger that it will bring about forthwith certain substantive evils.” Note adding imminent and forthwith ”the ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas”
Whitney v. California- Anita Whitney, a member of a distinguished California family, was convicted under the state's 1919 Criminal Syndicalism Act for allegedly helping to establish the Communist Labor Party, a group the state charged was devoted to teaching the violent overthrow of government. Whitney claimed that it had not been her intention, nor that of other organizers, that the party become an instrument of violence.
The question before the court was whether the 1919 Criminal Syndicalism Act of California violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s “due process” and “equal protection” clauses. The Court, by a 9-0 vote, held that it did not and upheld Miss Whitney's conviction. Justice Sanford wrote for the seven-justice majority opinion, and invoked the Holmes test of "clear and present danger" but went further. The state, he declared, has the power to punish those who abuse their rights to speech "by utterances inimical to the public welfare, tending to incite crime, disturb the public peace, or endanger the foundations of organized government and threaten its overthrow." In other words, if words have a "bad tendency" they can be punished. (She was eventually pardoned.)
Chapter 4: Defining Freedom
Stromberg v. California- (1931) a 1919 California statute banning red flags was unconstitutional because it violated the Fourteenth Amendment. This decision is considered a landmark in the history of First Amendment constitutional law, as it was one of the first cases where the Court extended the Fourteenth Amendment to include a protection of the substance of the First Amendment, in this case symbolic speech, from state infringement.
Keep in mind that “the First Amendment did not provide a detailed code of how it was to be applied”
Near v. Minnesota- (1931), was a United States Supreme Court decision that recognized the freedom of the press by roundly rejecting prior restraints on publication, a principle that was applied to free speech generally in subsequent jurisprudence. The Court ruled that a Minnesota law that targeted publishers of "malicious" or "scandalous" newspapers violated the First Amendment to the United States Constitution (as applied through the Fourteenth Amendment). "first great press case."It was later a key precedent in New York Times Co. v. United States (1971), in which the Court ruled against the Nixon administration's attempt to enjoin publication of the Pentagon Papers.
The Near decision free the author of a damaging statement from the need to prove its truth before publication.
*New York Times v. Sullivan (page 48!) On March 29, 1960, the New York Times carried a full-page advertisement titled "Heed Their Rising Voices", which solicited funds to defend Martin Luther King, Jr. against an Alabama perjury indictment. The advertisement described actions against civil rights protesters, some of them inaccurately, some of which involved the police force of Montgomery, Alabama. Although the Montgomery Public Safety commissioner, L. B. Sullivan, was not named in the advertisement, the inaccurate criticism of the actions by the police were considered as defamation against him as well by virtue of his position and duty to supervise the police department.
1. - Police chief sued for Times for libel 2. Judge Jones (passionate Confederacy lover) ruled advertisement libelous 3. Asked for 500,000 award 4. NY Times could not “meet demand that the ad was true in all respects. 5. King’s strategy of displaying racism to the country threatened. 6. Supreme Court took on case. 7. Argument was that Alabama’s libel law “punished criticism of public officials just as the Sedition Act” 8. “burden on libel defendants to prove truth was reversed” 9. “plaintiff had to prove falsity.”
- The result opened the way “for intense coverage of the racial struggle in the South by a press freed from the threat of endless libel actions.”
Chapter 5: Freedom and Privacy
Sidis v. F-R Publishing company- William Sidis-mocked boy genius, whose privacy was invaded. (62) balance of privacy and society’s best interest.
Privacy law concept 1) false light privacy-errors, but no damage to reputation
Time, Inc v. Hill- . The right to criticize the government applied to private citizens.
Facts of the Case:
In 1952, three escaped convicts took James Hill, his wife, and their five children hostage in their Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania, home. After nineteen hours, the family was released unharmed. The convicts were later apprehended in a violent clash with police during which two of them were killed. In 1953, Joseph Hays' published a novel based on the Hill family's ordeal. When the novel was subsequently made into a play, Life Magazine ("Life") printed an article about the play that mirrored many of its inaccuracies concerning the Hill family's experience. Alleging that it deliberately misrepresented his story, Hill sought damages against Life. On appeal from an adverse ruling, the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court remanded for a new trial where a reduced adverse ruling was imposed on Life. Following an unsuccessful appeal in the New York Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court granted Life's owner, Time Inc. ("Time") certiorari.
Question:
Is a publication, containing misrepresentations about the subject of its coverage, protected under the First Amendment's freedom of speech guarantees?
Conclusion:
Yes. In a 6-to-3 opinion, the Court set aside the Appellate ruling against Time because the lower court failed to instruct the jury that Time's liability was contingent upon a showing that it knowingly and recklessly published false statements about the Hill family. The Court explained that absent a finding of such malicious intent on the part of a publisher, press statements are protected under the First Amendment even if they are otherwise false or inaccurate. The Court remanded for retrial under the new jury instruction.
Privacy Law’s 4 concepts: 1) false light privacy 2) using someone else’s likeness without permission (ok to paint it, not to imitate) 3) intrusion- invasion of one’s personal space (eavesdropping) (no!) 4) publication of truthful but embarrassing facts (anything on internet and public records)
Chapter 6: A Press Privilege?
Must you disclose a source? Branzberg v. Hayes
Facts
Paul Branzburg of The (Louisville) Courier-Journal, in the course of his reporting duties, had witnessed people manufacturing and using hashish. He wrote two articles concerning drug use in Kentucky. The first featured unidentified hands holding hashish, while the second included marijuana users as sources. These sources requested not to be identified. Both of the articles were brought to attention of law-enforcement. Branzburg was subpoenaed before a grand jury for both of the articles. He was ordered to name his sources. Earl Caldwell, a reporter for The New York Times, had conducted extensive interviews with the leaders of The Black Panthers. Paul Pappas, a Massachusetts television reporter, had also reported on The Black Panthers, spending several hours in their headquarters.
All three reporters were called to testify before separate grand juries about illegal actions they might have witnessed. They refused, citing privilege under the Press Clause, and were held in contempt.
Decision: In a fiercely split decision, the Court ruled 5-4 against the existence of reportorial privilege in the Press Clause of the First Amendment However, lower courts have determined that the reporter's privilege did exist and its application depended on two factors: (1) that the information sought was crucial to a litigant's case and (2) that the information could not be acquired from any other source.
Note the importance of Branzberg v. Hayes with The Watergate break-in, which led to the subpoena of the Nixon’s tapes and his resignation.
Privileged communication recognized between lawyers and clients, wives and husbands, psychotherapists and patients
Chapter 7: Fear Itself
The Palmer Raids: The Palmer Raids were attempts by the United States Department of Justice to arrest and deport left-wing radicals, especially anarchists, from the United States. The raids and arrests occurred in November 1919 and January 1920 under the leadership of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer. Though more than 500 foreign citizens were deported, including a number of prominent leftist leaders.
American Civil Liberties Union-The ACLU's stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States."] It works through litigation, legislation, and community education; founded in 1920
President Franklin Roosevelt “greatest blow to constitutional rights in all the wars and times of stress in American history”: relocation camps
House of Un-American Activities- Hollywood Ten….”The public’s support for Red-hunting ebbed with the disgrace and death of Senator McCarthy after he was condemned by the Senate in 1954. In 1957. In Yates v. United States, the Supreme Court in an opinion by Justice Harland read the law as prohibiting advocacy of violent overthrow only when it was accompanied by an effort at action to that end, not mere abstract advocacy.”
Truman’s government wide loyalty program
Chicago Seven- Vietnam War protesters- charged under the anti-riot provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which made it a federal crime to cross state lines with the intent to incite a riot….all seven defendants were found not guilty of conspiracy.
Bond v. Floyd- 1966…same charges as Eugene Debs, who in 1919 spoke out against the draft, but different outcome. Bond, a significant black figure in civil rights movement was not allowed to hold his elected seat in the House of Representatives. Supreme Court held this violated the First Amendment.
Note how fear and stress influence the First Amendment
George W. Bush- authorized use of torture of suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and wiretapping of Americans’ international phone calls, and detaining of American citizens without a trial or access to counsel.
“Freedom of speech and press are [ ] tests of a humane and free society….The central concern among the Framers of the Constitution was concentrated power, and the checks and balances they built into our system of government were intended to prevent that kind of power.”
Chapter 8: “Another’s Lyric “
Paul Robert Cohen v. California 1971- in LA courthouse wore a jacket inscribed with “Fuck the Draft” arrest violated his right to “free expression.” Note that the court saw this as political expression, not sexual offensiveness, which is another topic
The government as nanny?
1933 U.S. customs seize a French edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses, banned since 1920 …the trial ruled it not obscene…the new test “judging a work by the effect of its dominant theme on an average reader.”
George Carlin and seven dirty words….1986…Supreme Court upheld an “FCC finding that a radio station had violated the law by broadcasting” these words
Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s-(poet / bookstore owner) selling Allen Ginsberg’s poem Howl
Superbowl 1986- Janet Jackson’s revealed breast
Much of the pornography issues have been overtaken by the use of technology. Should value judgments be part of the political process?
Chapter 9: “Vagabonds and Outlaws”
Why is it necessary to be on the outside to be an effective reporter?
“The highest duty of the press…is to inform the public about its governors.” Think Watergate(The Watergate scandal was a political scandal in the United States in the 1970s, resulting from the break-in to the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. Effects of the scandal ultimately led to the resignation of the President of the United States Richard Nixon on August 9, 1974, the first—and so far, only—resignation of any U.S President. It also resulted in the indictment and conviction of several Nixon administration officials.) and Pentagon Papers
(A Study Prepared by the Department of Defense, was a top-secret United States Department of Defense history of the United States' political-military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967. The papers were first brought to the attention of the public on the front page of the New York Times in 1971)
YET! After 9/11 “the press performed more like a stenographer for official views” Why this intimidation? Fear? Lassitude?
Then…New York Times reports illegal wiretapping….paper gets a Pulitzer Prize (a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by Hungarian-American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City. Prizes are awarded yearly in twenty-one categories. In twenty of these, each winner receives a certificate and a US$10,000 cash award. The winner in the public service category of the journalism competition is awarded a gold medal, which always goes to a newspaper, although an individual may be named in the citation.)
Chapter 10: Thoughts That We Hate
Hate Speech- US different than other Western societies ie: First Amendment protects the right to deny the fact of the Holocaust.
Is the hate speech “inciting ‘imminent lawless action’?
Skokie, Illinois-1977-Nazi group wanted to demonstrate in this predominantly Jewish community, many of whom were concentration camp survivors. Court held that stopping the demonstration was unconstitutional.
1984- Flag burning- conduct protected under the First Amendment as “expressive conduct”
Today’s issues: banning hate speech on campuses.
International Studies in Higher Education Act (2003)/ to advance American ideals- set up overseeing government board of content for federal funding..this aspect did not happen
Chapter 11: Balancing Interests
The press can prejudice sensational cases: Sheppard v. Maxwell- (The Fugitive) the courtroom was “bedlam” and he was denied “the judicial serenity and cam” to which he was entitled.
Gag orders: “Trial judges could bar statement to the press by the police, prosecutors and defense counsel” for a fair trail.
No injunctions against press coverage unless there is “a clear and present danger’
Lee Harvey Oswald (Kennedy assassin) shot by Jack Ruby thought to be because of overwhelming press presence in Dallas police headquarters.
Chapter 12: Freedom of Thought
“the ultimate good desired is the power of free trade in ideas-that the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the completion of the market place.”
History of Journalism Project - Presentations Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday September 14,15, 16. I'll post a schedule later this week.
Directions (read carefully):Pick a partner in your class and select one of the topics listed below to complete the History of Journalism Unit. Proposals are due at the end of class today. The presentation should be 10 minutes, neither less, nor more.
You may include a power point, video clip, and /or performance. The objective is to give an insightful and educational overview of one aspect of journalistic history.
PROJECT GRADING: research 50%, presentation (oral presentation skills: audibility/ eye contact/ body language; communication of knowledge (engaging / accurate visuals) 40%; your partners evaluation of your effort / communication and cooperation.
.
TOPIC CHOICES: no more than two groups in each class may choose the same topic. Let me know, when you have made your selection.
1. Printers: Find out about famous journalists (at least 3) that devoted themselves to improving the print industry. Show and discuss the progression of printing through the years. How have techniques changed and what impact did each change have on the newspaper industry? Tips – Johannes Gutenberg, Ben Franklin, Letterpress, Offset Printing.
2. Reporters were sometimes found to be “radical” in different periods of history. Look at people like Martin Luther, Horace Greeley, John Upton Sinclair, Sam Adams and others who used their journalistic skills to fight for people’s rights. See “Muckraking.”
3. Coverage of politicians’ private affairs – How does the media handle cover personal situations in politicians’ lives? How have they done this in the past and what has the development has occurred?
4. Examine the history of the papers owned and run by Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hurst during the period from 1895 to 1905. How sensational can reporters write without becoming a “yellow journalist”?
5. Beginning with the area of the “Penny Press,” going through today, discuss the cost of newspaper subscriptions and the evolution of advertising. How does advertising help finance production costs? How much revenue is generated today vs. years ago? How does the industry decide on the price of the ads?
6. Stunt Journalism – Does it take reporters engaging in “dangerous” acts to get stories and to make it in the field? Ideas: look at someone like Nellie Bly and compare her to the people and type of reporting today which is similar. How has it made a difference in society?
7. Compare coverage of the Civil War vs. Vietnam War and Desert Storm. Show how reporting and photography has played a major role in shaping the public’s opinions of U.S. involvement. How has reporting changed over the last 100 years? Where do reporters, called correspondents, get their information?
8. Trace the course of the woman’s involvement in journalism from the colonial days to the present time. Use the Anne Catherine Green story as a basis as well as others Fanny Fern, Margaret Fuller, Middy Morgan, Jane Grey Swisshelm, Winifred Black (Annie Laurie), Bessie Bramble, Margherita Arlina Hamm, Julie Hayes Percy, etc. Find some current successes and compare stories. What has made them so successful?
9. Since “The Yellow Kid” began in 1896, trace the changes an evolution of the nature of comic strips. Why are some humorous, some adventurous; why are some self-contained in one day, and some continuing stories? What purposes do comic strips serve?
10. Trace the lines of communication that went up across America from the telegraph to the telephone and radio stations. Show how the discovery of waves in the air led to broadcast journalism where sound could come into homes and eventually into cars. What was impact of Samuel Morse’s invention? How did each new invention or discovery change the way we communicate? Discuss AM and FM frequencies. How have Bill Clinton’s radio broadcasts affected the public in comparison to Roosevelt’s “fireside chats” when he was in office?
11. Music and music videos have made a huge impact on the youth of America. Show how forms of music have changed over the past 50 years in equipment, as well as the variety of content available. What change in the music industry took place when MTV aired? How has MTV changed from the original format? Trace the history. Don’t forget to touch on ratings and censorship within the music industry.
12. Minorities have often had difficulties breaking into the media industry historically. Research and discuss historically minorities who have made it in the industry. What challenges did they face? How were they able to break into the industry when so many tried to shove them out? What was it about the people who were successful that helped them to made it? Did they have any advantages?
13. How and why does the media work as a “watch dog” or society? How has investigative reporting helped the “betterment” of America? Discuss what influence the book, “The Jungle,” and stories such as “Watergate” have done to impact and better society. Include examples of current journalists doing similar things .
No comments:
Post a Comment