In the 1969 case of Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC, Red Lion Broadcasting challenged the fairness doctrine that the Federal Communication Commission imposed on them in relation to a specific broadcast. Red Lion Broadcasting Co. aired that program on November 27, 1964, which included a personal attack on one author Fred J. Cook. Red Lion Broadcasting Co. refused to give Fred J. Cook his requested free time on air for rebuttal. As a result, the FCC supported Cook and ordered the radio station to give Cook his time on air for the opportunity to refute the previous negative claims made against him. The D.C. Circuit of the Court of Appeals subsequently upheld the FCC’s decision. Another appeal made and this time it was put in the hands of the Supreme Court, which also upheld the FCCs decision with a unanimous vote.
The basis for the verbal attack on Fred J. Cook was political. Cook had written and published a book, not too long before the broadcast, titled Barry Goldwater: Extremist on the Right (1964). In that book, as is evident from the title, Cook wrote a biographical criticism of Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater. It was in response to that book that Reverend Billy James Hargis made several allegations against Cook.
The claims were more than enough to result in Cook’s defamation and were seemed to be made for the sole purpose of undermining Cook’s credibility and thus putting his Goldwater book into question. According to Hargis, Cook previously made false charges against an NYC official and it cost him his job at a newspaper, wrote for a communist paper, and also attacked the CIA and FBI director J. Edgar Hoover.
Those comments were what prompted Cook to demand and ultimately be granted the free airtime to re...
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...wpoints. Such regulations were undoubtedly a form of prior restraint and consequently they were in direct violation of broadcasters First Amendment rights. As this was a unanimous decision, there are no records of dissenting views from the Justices. The only dissenting views were that of the Plaintiff, Red Lion Broadcasting Co.
Today the fairness doctrine is no longer enforced on broadcasters and understandably so, as spectrum scarcity is not a modern issue. For one, people today have an array of broadcast channels to choose from. With the introduction of satellite radio, Internet radio and all the other mediums of broadcast available to the average American, there would be no justification for enforcement of the fairness doctrine today. This FCC rule was repealed in 1987 as the Court decided that the doctrine was suppressing, not promoting the discussion of issues.
In the majority opinion, Justice White wrote “Educators did not offend the First Amendment by exercising editorial control over the content of student speech so long as their actions were” The court also noted that the paper was a sponsored newspaper by the school which was not intended to be seen by the public, but rather for journalism students to write articles based off of the requirements for journalism 2 class, and all subjects must be appropriate for the school and all its
Procunier case is whether the California Department of Corrections’ restriction on media-inmate interviews is constitutional or unconstitutional. The Supreme Court held that the California Department of Corrections ban was constitutional and did not violate the inmates’ rights of free speech. Furthermore, the regulation did not violate the media’s right to access information within a correctional
Hall, Kermit L, eds. The Oxford guide to United States Supreme Court decisions New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
"Freedom of Speech: Missouri Knights of the Ku Klux Klan v. Kansas City" is an article about the KKK's attempt to spread their beliefs through a public access cable television channel. Dennis Mahon and Allan Moran, both of the KKK, asked to be broadcasted on air in 1987, and the whole situation led to a major problem. The KKK is known for its killings, prejudice, and cross burnings, and they wanted to be shown on television to further spread their message. The First Amendment states the right to the freedom of speech, but many of the community members had a problem with the whole situation. People with race relations, local leaders, and members of the cable company did not want to grant the KKK the right to appear on air. Black ministers and important politicians were not happy with the KKK's request to voice their opinions. The KKK complied with all of the rules that were presented by the cable company, even when they were told to create a locally produced show and receive training in video production. They happily obeyed the regulations and didn't cause additional problems to what they were soon to face. The cable company studio was located in a neighborhood that was 95% black, and violence was a major concern for the cable company. Many of those people threatened to drop their cable subscriptions if the K...
Board of Education (1954). In the Constitution it?s found in the 14th Amendment, Equal Protection Clause, which prohibits any state from denying equal rights to any person and equal protection of the laws. In a 5-4 decision, delivered by Justice Sandra Day O?Conner they argued that under Title IX Jackson had the right to pursue his case in court (Chicago-Kent College of Law, 2015c). The majority was lead to believe and ruled that it was intentional retaliation of the Birmingham Board of Education to fire Jackson from his position in the school (Mahon, 2015). Concurring opinion was stated by O?Connor and the dissenting opinions were stated by Thomas (Jackson v. Birmingham Board of Education,
It was a 1986 case involving a seniors, Matthew Fraser, campaign speech at school that used “sexually suggestive comments and gestures” which created an uproar in the audience (Lusted, Marcia Amidon, and Gerald T. Thain 126). Fraser was suspended for several days and was not allowed to speak at commencement therefore he made the decision to sue the school district since he felt his First Amendment was violated (Lusted, Marcia Amidon, and Gerald T. Thain 126). He was voted against seven to two because he used vulgar language which is not allowed in schools (Lusted, Marcia Amidon, and Gerald T. Thain 126). Because Fraser was not peaceful or non-vulgar like the Tinker case, he was not able to win the case against the Bethel School
Over the centuries, the media has played a significant role in the shaping of societies across the globe. This is especially true of developed nations where media access is readily available to the average citizen. The media has contributed to the creation of ideologies and ideals within a society. The media has such an effect on social life, that a simple as a news story has the power to shake a nation. Because of this, governments around the world have made it their duty to be active in the regulation and control of media access in their countries. The media however, has quickly become dominated by major mega companies who own numerous television, radio and movie companies both nationally and internationally. The aim of these companies is to generate revenue and in order to do this they create and air shows that cater to popular demand. In doing so, they sometimes compromise on the quality of their content. This is where public broadcasters come into perspective.
The majority opinion of the court was the most accurate for this case because of the fact that Johnson was expressing his personal beliefs and opinions. The 5 to 4 decision was the most constitutional and well thought through judgment. Johnson was not threatening the United States in any way, let alone the people of the United States. Although society may find expressive events hostile, the government cannot ban it because it’s expressive conduct and it underlies in one’s First Amendment rights. The majority opinion was the most constitutionally accurate, but one may think, does our Constitution need revising?
...urt ordered the university to stop enforcing its quota system, but the university appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court reviewed this case in 1978.
The case that I chose to analyze is Reno v. ACLU. It is the first Internet related U.S. Supreme Court case ever to be decided. Seven of the justices found the argued provisions of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) were unconstitutional under the First Amendment. The court found that the Internet is similar to a shopping mall or library not a broadcast medium as the government refered to it. The majority opinion for this case was that the Internet is a unique marketplace for ideas. The ruling states that while there is a large amount of pornographic material out there, it normally isn’t come across on accident. They stated that the CDA already holds back a good amount of speech that is alright for adult to adult conversations, which they do have a constitutional right to receive. While they recognize the CDA efforts to protect children from harmful speech and pornographic material, it still does not justify the unnecessarily broad suspension of speech. The final outcome was that they found that what the CDA was trying to do would violate speakers messages who are rightfully protected under the First Amendment.
Satellite radio is a technology that provides a radically new way to listen to radio. XM’s service makes use of advanced satellite capabilities and elaborates terrestrial receiver architecture to deliver a wide array of high quality radio programming nationwide. In early 1998, Robert Acker, director of strategic planning at XM, needs to develop a marketing strategy for this new radio service. There are several decisions that need to be made by the company in order to finalize the business plan. At fist XM needs to decide which of two business models to pursue, whether emphasis should be placed on charging customers a monthly subscription fee, or whether to rely more on earning revenue through advertising. In addressing this problem, management must consider the value that XM radio could propose for different consumer segments as compared with existing modes of radio (AM, FM) and in relation to its sole competitor in satellite radio – SIRIUS. Besides choosing a business model there is also a need to explore how best to approach and leverage manufacturer and channel partners, considering high unknown and high-risk technology. The purpose of this report is to analyze possibilities and outline possible recommendation on strategies for XM Radio. The following areas will be examined:
...the school district. The Supreme Court decided that since the newspaper was written as part of a journalism class, it was reasonable for the school to censor it (Gaynor).
I was thinking about the curse words and the swear words, the cuss words and
Most of the audience on this radio show were white and male. Most of the callers have spent their lives walling themselves off from any real experience with blacks, feminists, lesbians or gays. Rush Limbaugh tells his audience “what you believe inside, you can talk about it in the marketplace.” Unfortunately, what’s inside is then mistaken for what’s outside, treated as empirical and political reality. Most of the talks on the radio were racist against the blacks.
The public broadcasting service is an American public broadcaster and television program distributor. Pbs.org is intended for parents and their children to learn about music, art, dance, and theatre. The broadcasting service was founded in 1970 by Hartford N. Gunn. Jr. The editors are often updating the site with new information for the parents and children to keep broadening their minds with new knowledge. The links in the page are very reliable and fully functioning.