Principles of Publicity and Press Freedom / Edition 1

by Slavko Splichal

Overview

This insightful book examines freedom of the press, the social functions of the press, and how the original concept of publicity—as the 'public use of reason,' or citizens' freedom to express and publish opinions—has been reduced to mean the right of media to access and print information. This, the author argues, unfairly gives media more freedom than individuals have and reduces the accountability and service of the press to the public. Splichal's thoughtful work includes discussions of the media-relevant theories and works of Jeremy Bentham, Immanuel Kant, Karl Marx, and John Stuart Mill, among many others.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780742516151
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	11/19/2002
Series:	Critical Media Studies: Institutions, Politics, and Culture
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.20(d)

About the Author

Slavko Splichal is professor of mass communications and public opinion at the University of Ljubljana and director of the European Institute for Communication and Culture.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Preface Chapter 2 In Search of the Roots: Deconstructing the Institution of Freedom of the Press Chapter 3 Free Press for Social Control: From Bentham to American Pragmatists Chapter 4 Freedom to Reason, Right to Communicate Chapter 5 From the Republic of Letters to the Public of Letters to the Editor

Editorial Reviews

This demanding, well-supported, and carefully documented argument requires very attentive reading. Recommended.

Choice Reviews

Slavko Splichal's book is a thorough and brilliant rethinking, from philosophical and historical perspectives, of the basic meanings of press freedoms: why we have them, where we got them, and how they have been captured, redefined, and—in some cases—twisted in a modern Orwellian mode.

Monroe Price

Raises some interesting issues regarding the conceptualization of freedom of the press.

Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly

This demanding, well-supported, and carefully documented argument requires very attentive reading. Recommended.

Choice

Splichal offers an insightful and richly illustrated historical account of modern-day understandings of press freedom and responsibility by tracing the liberal democratic ideal of news media as 'public watchdogs' and Habermas' ideal of news media as 'public forums' back to Jeremy Bentham's and Immanuel Kant's radically different conceptions of publicity.

Journal of Communication

This demanding, well-supported, and carefully documented argument requires very attentive reading. Recommended.

CHOICE

Splichal offers an insightful and richly illustrated historical account of modern-day understandings of press freedom and responsibility by tracing the liberal democratic ideal of news media as 'public watchdogs' and Habermas' ideal of news media as 'public forums' back to Jeremy Bentham's and Immanuel Kant's radically different conceptions of publicity.

Journal Of Communication

Raises some interesting issues regarding the conceptualization of freedom of the press.

Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly