The Law of Public Communication provides an overview of media law that includes the most current legal developments today. It explains the laws affecting the daily work of writers, broadcasters, advertisers, cable operators, Internet service providers, public relations practitioners, photographers, bloggers, and other public communicators. Authors Kent R. Middleton, William E. Lee, and Daxton R. Stewart take students through the basic legal principles and methods of analysis that allow students to study and keep abreast of the rapidly changing field of public communication. By providing statutes and cases in a cohesive manner that is understandable, even to students studying law for the first time, the authors ensure that students will acquire a firm grasp of the legal issues affecting the media. This 2017 Update brings the Ninth Edition up to date with the most recent cases and examples affecting media professionals and public communicators.

Updated to reflect new developments through 2019, the tenth edition of The Law of Public Communication provides an overview of communication and media law that includes the most current legal developments. It explains the laws affecting the daily work of writers, broadcasters, PR practitioners, photographers, and other public communicators. By providing statutes and cases in an accessible manner, even to students studying law for the first time, the authors ensure that students will acquire a firm grasp of the legal issues affecting the media. This new edition features color photos, as well as breakout boxes that apply the book’s principles to daily life. The new case studies discussed often reflect new technologies and professional practices, including hot topics such as cyber bullying, drones, government surveillance, campaign financing, advertising, and digital libel. The Law of Public Communication is an ideal core textbook for undergraduate and graduate courses in communication law and mass media law. A downloadable test bank is available for instructors at www.routledge.com/9780367353094.

Throughout his many careers Archibald Cox has been especially concerned with the Constitution and the unalienable rights of fellow citizens. In his latest book Cox reminds us of the meaning of the First Amendment of the Constitution. The framers of the Constitution placed freedom of conscience above other values and then moved on to freedom of expression-a free press, the right to assemble peaceably, and the right to petition government for the redress of grievances. His examination illustrates the balances struck by the Court between freedom of expression and opposing human values such as personal privacy, fair trials, and national security. He judges the Court's performance in defining basic freedoms: what has changed, how these rights are being expanded or circumscribed. Here is a brilliant book of commentary on our "first" rights under the Constitution and a call for an evolving and explicit law of the majority, when there are dissents. No one has written so forthrightly about these latest Court decisions of immense importance. No one is better qualified to tell us where we stand in our freedom of expression. Archibald Cox is Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard.