This market leading text offers a solid presentation of law with a strong historical emphasis. Known for its clear explanations of difficult topics and its consistent pedagogy, the text includes interesting tips, mid-chapter summaries, a table of cases and more. Three libel chapters set the standard for coverage of libel.

Digital media law is now the dynamic legal territory. Mass Media Law: The Printing Press to the Internet is a textbook designed to introduce students to the panoply of legal theories raised by the Internet revolution as well as those supporting traditional media. The book takes a historical approach beginning with the printing press and the telegraph and proceeding to the digital technologies of today, such as social media and search engines. Concepts such as defamation, broadcast regulation, privacy, and free expression are covered along with new media legal theories including Internet exceptionalism, cyber libertarianism, and digital speech and democratic culture. These are introduced to explain why traditional theories such as First Amendment medium-specific analysis, common carriage, and network neutrality are just as relevant today as they were in the early twentieth century. In order to help readers develop critical reasoning skills, each chapter opens with a highly readable realworld vignette and goes on to identify and explain legal doctrines and tests. Key passages from court opinions are highlighted, and each chapter closes with a list of online media law resources and thought-provoking questions, including legal hypotheticals, to give readers a solid understanding of the area in question. Mass Media Law is designed to be the main text and a valuable resource for undergraduate and graduate courses covering media, mass communication, free expression, and journalism law.

This current and comprehensive, market-leading textbook addresses the most relevant and important aspects of mass media law in the United States, stretching from the history and adoption of the First Amendment to the most recent judicial opinions, statutory enactments, and regulatory controversies affecting speech across the print, broadcast, cable and Internet media. From the laws of libel and privacy to the regulation of advertising and telecommunications, Mass Media Law examines timely issues that are shaping the United States' legal system and the future of media content.

"This is the best all-around media law text for undergraduate and graduate students alike. The clear, nonthreatening writing style of the authors, by itself, sets this book apart. And yet, it does so by not leaving out any important areas of inquiry. That’s why my colleagues and I continue to adopt this for all of our media law classes." —Jonathan Kotler, University of Southern California In The Law of Journalism and Mass Communication, authors Susan Dente Ross, Amy Reynolds, and Robert Trager present a lively, up-to-date, and comprehensive introduction to media law that brings the law to life for future professional communicators. The book is grounded in the traditions and rules of law but also contains fresh facts and relevant examples that keep readers engaged. Tightly focused breakout boxes highlight contemporary examples of the law in action or emphasize central points of law as well as intersections with international law and policy. The thoroughly updated Seventh Edition contains a wealth of new content that is as timely as possible—from the U.S. Supreme Court, federal and state courts, Congress, executive agencies, federal and state policymakers and advisory groups, and media organizations and allies. A refreshed look, feel, and flow of chapters provide readers an understanding of fast-expanding areas of the law and legal complexities.

The third edition of Media Law and Ethics features a complete updating of all major U.S. Supreme Court cases and lower court decisions through 1998; more discussion throughout the book on media ethics and the role of ethics in media law; and an updated appendix that now features a copy of the U.S. Constitution, new sample copyright and trademark registration forms, and the current versions of major media codes of ethics, including the new code of the Society of Professional Journalists. Extensively updated and expanded chapters provide: *more detailed explanations of the legal system, the judicial process, and the relationship between media ethics and media law; *new cases in this developing area of the law that has attracted renewed attention from the U.S. Supreme Court; *the new Telecommunications Act and the Communications Decency Act; *a discussion of telecommunications and the Internet; *new developments in access to courts, records, and meetings such as recent court decisions and statutory changes; and *more information about trademark and trade secret laws and recent changes in copyright laws, as well as major court decisions on intellectual property. The book has also been updated to include new developments in obscenity and indecency laws, such as the Communications Decency Act, and the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Reno vs. ACLU. In addition, the instructor's manual includes a listing of electronic sources of information about media law, sample exams, and a sample syllabus.