Your students are future journalists and media professionals—not lawyers— and their media law textbook should refl ect that. With its clear, concise writing and easy-to-navigate chapters, The Law of Journalism and Mass Communication is easily the most engaging and readable book on the market. While offering essential coverage and analysis, the authors complement substantive discussion of case law with an abundance of photographs, hypothetical situations, contextual timelines, a handy marginal glossary and a colorful interior design.

Suppose... hypothetical cases at the start of each chapter situate legal issues and get students thinking critically; Timelines show landmark cases within the backdrop of important historical events; Real World Law boxes illustrate contemporary examples and emerging topics; Points of Law boxes underscore key points through legal tests or useful checklists; and Two excerpted Cases for Study—complete with case facts, an explanatory headnote and questions— conclude every chapter, eliminating the need for a separate casebook.

Unlike many revisions that simply tack on new content— adding length and undermining clarity—the updates here are fully integrated, offering the current state of media law in one comprehensive (and comprehensible) discussion.

New coverage includes:

implications of the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing corporations and unions the right to spend unlimited amounts on political ads; late-breaking court decisions on violence in video games and broadcast indecency; a look at the changing face of the Supreme Court; perspectives on free speech on campus; expanded coverage of the Freedom of Information Act, as well as how open records laws apply to digital information; WikiLeaks’ impact on a potential federal shield law; the latest FCC guidelines on radio station ownership; more on the laws governing online and social media publishing; the use of new media to report from courtrooms; and new excerpted cases—Marbury v. Madison, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, City of Ontario v. Quon and Fox Television Stations, Inc. v. Federal Communications.