References: The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and subsequent Supreme Court rulings protect the media's right to criticize the government. "An Unfettered Press" U.S. Department of State, Bureau of International Information Programs, 1994. [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: Although freedom of the press has been broadly guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and Supreme Court decisions, there is concern about the absence in some states of shield laws that protect journalists from having to reveal sources to law enforcement authorities.

References: The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and subsequent Supreme Court rulings protect the public's right to free speech and to criticize the government. "Individual Rights" [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: But there are limits to certain types of speech, such as speech meant to incite violence, although Supreme Court decisions have held that these restrictions must be narrowly tailored.

References: James C. Goodale, THE FIRST AMENDMENT AND FREEDOM OF THE PRESS, [ LINK ]; Krimsky, George A. et al. Hold the Press: The Inside Story on Newspapers. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1996. According to Freedom House, "the United States is home to more than 1,500 daily newspapers geared primarily toward local readerships." [ LINK ]

References: N/A No license required.

References: N/A No license required.

References: N/A No license required.

References: "The Federal Communications Commissions (FCC) reports it received 30,000 inquiries from persons seeking to start radio broadcast stations in 2005. Less popular frequencies in the broadcast spectrum are easy to acquire. However, the FCC auctions off the most highly desired broadcast television or radio slots, thereby creating considerable financial barriers and has resulted in more highly corporatized media entities. See: "How To Apply For a Broadcast Station," FCC, [ LINK ]; and Amol Sharma and Amy Schatz, ""Bidders will vie for slice of U.S. airwaves,"" Seattle Times, August 7, 2006, p. C1. "

References: FCC rulings are frequently appealed through the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. See FCC Website for press releases of appeal decisions. [ LINK ]

References: According to FCC licensing officer Hossein Hashemzadeh, application timing is difficult to estimate because of the many factors involved (e.g., how many applications have been filed during a window, if they are mutually exclusive, or if they cause interference to existing stations). Some broadcast applications take as little as 3 months, but others take much longer. An overview of the process can be found at: [ LINK ]

References: For non-competitive broadcast slots, licenses and related administrative permits may be acquired at reasonable rates. See, e.g., the FCC's Mass Media Services Application Fee Filing Guide. In addition, Congress does allow "the Commission to waive, reduce, or defer payment of a fee where such action would promote the 'public interest.' (e.g., state and local governments, amateur radio operator licensees and non-profit organizations)." [ LINK ]. Nevertheless, the auctioning of competitive broadcast licenses significantly favors moneyed interests, which relates in part to increasing media concentration in the United States. See: Norman Lear and Robert W. McChesney, "Does Big Media need to get bigger?" Los Angeles Times, August 5, 2006, p. B17; and Freedom House 2005 Freedom of the Press U.S. report.

References: Freedom House. United States Report 2007:

The number and influence of Internet sites and blogs have expanded greatly in recent years, and blogs have proven to be an important source of information in certain political controversies. Blogs devoted to public policy questions often lean to the highly partisan, and while their proliferation adds to the richness of press diversity, it also contributes to ideological polarization. On two occasions, the U.S. Congress has tried to impose censorship legislation on Internet content, but both attempts were ruled unconstitutional by the courts. According to the Center for Democracy and Technology, proposals are pending to make internet service providers liable for removing allegedly illegal or improper content. Nearly 69 percent of the population was documented as having internet access at year's end.

Even congressional attempts to censor pornography have failed due to First Amendment concerns. "U.S. judge blocks law criminalizing Web porn that reaches kids, saying filters work better," Associated Press. March 22, 2007

Peer Review Comments: There is currently great debate in Congress over "net neutrality" and whether the Internet providers should be regulated to ensure equal download speeds and access to content providers of all sizes.

Some fear that, without regulation, service providers would provide better, faster access to wealthier Internet entitites. See [ LINK ]

References: The explosion of political blogs in the U.S., many of which are quite critical of presiding officials, is testament to the Internet freedoms enjoyed by Americans. For examples of blogs on both side of the political spectrum, see: [ LINK ] and [ LINK ].

Peer Review Comments: I would reference additional blogs here. This is a super-picky point, however.

Peer Review Comments: So called "decency laws" could be used to censor content.

References: According to Freedom House, "The United States has a long tradition of legal protection for press freedom," making it "quite difficult to bring a successful libel case against a journalist in the United States." 2005 U.S. Country Report

Peer Review Comments: But libel and defamation prohibitions do exist; you may want to cite.

Freedom House's review of the US also exposes the potential for corruption cover ups. [ LINK ]

References: Neither the government nor media entities encourage self-censorship about corrupt officials. Adherence to First Amendment norms (cited above) prevent the government from doing so, while financial incentives to report on corruption (which draw large audiences) compel media entities to do do so. Indeed, the last two years have witnessed a significant increase in stories about corrupt politicians (from both parties).

Peer Review Comments: Media corporations also sometimes censor or fail to report corruption-related stories in instances where the story might damage political allies and/or where the likelihood for drawing large audiences is small.

See: [ LINK ]

References: While no cases of pre-publication censoring of corruption stories were revealed in 2007, the possibility that concerns about national security may be used to quell reporting unearthing corruption is of concern.

References: Hold the Press: The Inside Story on Newspapers. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1996. As with broadcast media, there are increasing concerns about ownership concentration, especially as newspapers become increasingly less profitable with the growth of the Internet.

"Why newspapers are buyout targets", May 3, 2007, The Christian Science Monitor

References: The FCC requires broadcast stations to file a report with the names of the owners and their ownership interests, any contracts related to the station that are required to be filed with the FCC, and the identities of any interests held by the station licensee in other broadcast stations. [ LINK ]

Ownership disclosures reveal an increasing concern about media concentration in the United States. According to Freedom House, "this controversy has intensified in recent years following the purchase of media entities, especially television networks, by large corporations with no previous experience in journalism." [ LINK ]

References: Major media outlets employ ombudsmen and/or possess codes of conduct to promote ethical behavior. See, for example, The New York Times Ethical Journalism Guidebook. Independent organizations such as the Project for Excellence in Journalism help to ensure a healthy debate about journalistic practices.

However, Freedom House notes that "the Bush administration itself drew sharp criticism for having paid several political commentators who supported certain domestic policy initiatives through grants from agencies of the federal government. A report by federal auditors concluded that the administration had disseminated "covert propaganda" by paying columnist Armstrong Williams through grants from the Department of Education for columns that praised Bush's education policies. It was also revealed that the Department of Defense had hired a public relations firm to place stories with media outlets in Iraq that were written by U.S. military officers and depicted conditions in the country in a favorable light." [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: In addition, there have been some recent allegations of plagiarism by journalists of other journalists' work.

References: Compared to other countries, election news is largely independent of the political parties involved. In addition, most U.S. citizens enjoy access to the Internet and Blogosphere, which provide access to political news that might go uncovered in more traditional news media outlets (the Blogosphere is far more politically biased than are traditional sources such as newspapers and magazines. Nevertheless, there are signs that American media sources generally are becoming more partisan. See, for example, "Red Media, Blue Media" in which the authors argue that "there is the real possibility that news will no longer serve as a "social glue" that connects all Americans; instead, the very same lines that divide voters will also divide news audiences." By Shanto Iyengar and Richard Morin, Washington Post, May 3, 2006.

References: The vast majority of political media operates in the private sphere, and in the few cases where the U.S. government operates state-owned media outlets the only claims about political bias come from the party already in power. One major area of controversy, however, is the process by which aspiring presidential candidates are allowed to participate in presidential debates. The organization in charge of this decision has been criticized for being biased toward the traditional two political parties. See, for example, the NOW television special on "Politics and Economy", September 24, 2004, in which the director of Open Debates is interviewed.

Peer Review Comments: The lead researcher is correct and makes an excellent point about the "open debate" issue. Is he or she considering the Public Broadcasting System and National Public Radio as "state-owned" media outlets?

I know they are supported in part by the government, but I'm not sure they are equivalent to the British Broadcasting Corporation, for example. I think the outlets the researcher has in mind should be mentioned in the comment, and the exact nature of the government's involvement in and control of these media outlets should be spelled out a bit more.

References: Transparency International news search

No journalists were imprisoned for corruption stories, although the New York Times reporter Judith Miller spent 85 days in jail for refusing to reveal her sources in a criminal investigation.

[ LINK ]

References: Transparency International news search

[ LINK ]

References: Transparency International news search