Filming the First: Cinematic Portrayals of Freedom of the Press [Hardcover]

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits Congress from abridging freedom of the press. But, as the printed press has been transformed into mass media with Americans now more likely to get their political information from television or social media than from print, confidence in this important, mediating institution has fallen dramatically. Movies, in their role as cultural artifacts, have long reflected and influenced those public attitudes, inventing such iconic phrases as follow the money fromAll the Presidents Menand Im mad as hell and Im not going to take this anymore fromNetwork.Filming the First:Cinematic Portrayals of Freedom of the Pressanalyzes eighteen films that span fromCitizen KanetoSpotlightshowing changes in how the press have been portrayed over time, which voices receive the most attention and why, the relationship between the presss Fourth Estate role and the imperatives of capitalism, and how, despite the First Amendments seemingly absolute language, the government has sometimes been able to limit what the public can read or view.Filming the First provides in-depth case studies and analyses of eighteen films depicting aspects of freedom of the press. It discusses the substantive social, political, historical, and legal aspects and implications of press freedoms illustrated in the films.

Bruce Altschuler is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at SUNY Oswego.

Helen J. Knowles-Gardner is Research Director at the Institute for Free Speech.

Brandon T. Metroka is Associate Professor of Political Science and Pre-Law Program Coordinator at University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas.

Although judges declare what the law is, ordinary citizens usually learn more about legal principles from watching movies than from reading court decisions.Filming the Firstexpertly evaluates the ways in which films portray the constitutional guarantee of a free prelã"