American Broadcasting And The First Amendment

Condition remarks:
Book: Good
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Pages: Good
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image

At the crossroads of free speech and federal regulation lies one of the most consequential legal battles in American media history — the question of whether broadcast television and radio deserve the same First Amendment protections afforded to the printed press. American Broadcasting and the First Amendment by Lucas A. Powe, Jr. presents a rigorous and authoritative examination of how the United States government came to assert sweeping regulatory control over the airwaves, tracing the evolution of broadcast law from its earliest legislative foundations through landmark Supreme Court decisions that shaped the modern media landscape. Powe argues compellingly that the Federal Communications Commission's power over broadcasters represents a profound and largely unjustified departure from traditional free speech principles, dissecting the political and legal logic — or lack thereof — that permitted government to dictate content in ways that would be wholly unconstitutional in any other medium. Written with the sharp analytical precision of a constitutional scholar and the accessible clarity of a seasoned storyteller, this work stands as a landmark critique of American communications policy. Powe illustrates how historical accident, political expediency, and judicial deference combined to create a regulatory framework built on shaky constitutional ground. Challenging both legal orthodoxy and public complacency, it forces readers to confront an unsettling question: if the First Amendment means what it says, why does it not apply equally to all who speak?