Sentinel Under Siege: Triumphs and Troubles of America's Free Press

If the unexamined life is not worth living, surely the unexamined media is not worth heeding. Sentinel Under Siege traces the evolution of the media in the United States and its capacity to examine and regulate itself, from its earliest colonial roots to the modern explosion of digital technology.Once the Bill of Rights was enacted in 1791, the press became the first and only enterprise explicitly protected by the United States Constitution. This book is concerned with the legal content given to freedom of the press by the Supreme Court, and the fitful attempts of media criticismboth intramural and externalto build a greater sense of responsibility among the practitioners. }If the unexamined life is not worth living, surely the unexamined media is not worth heeding. Sentinel Under Siege traces the evolution of the media in the United States and its capacity to examine and regulate itself, from its earliest colonial roots to the modern explosion of digital technology. Once the Bill of Rights was enacted in 1791, the press became the first and only enterprise explicitly protected by the United States Constitution. This book is concerned with the legal content given to freedom of the press by the Supreme Court, and the fitful attempts of media criticismboth intramural and externalto build a greater sense of responsibility among the practitioners.Stanley Flink, former correspondent of Life Magazine and writer/producer at NBC and CBS, is concerned less with the peoples right to know than with the peoples need to know. Only a competent, responsible presswhatever its means of distributioncan perform the role of watchdog over official abuse of power, business corruption, and political distortions. But the acquisition of so many newspapers, magazines, and broadcasting facilities by corporate conglomerates threatens a new kind of prior restraint on an independent pressthe conflicts of interest; the power of advertising; the unspoken self-censorship of reporters and editors, print or electronic, based on the perceived predilections of their employers; and the financial interests of related companies. Flink believes that responsible journalism can also be economically viable in the twenty-first century because the mass communication of reliable news reporting and media accountability will be vital to the democratic process. Unless the news media persistently seeks the high moral ground of public service, the first casualty will be an informed electorate. The second may well be constitutional protection. } Absorbing and timely, Sentinel Under Siege critically examines the current state of the media in the United States, emphasizing both its capacity for self-examination and its function in society, from its earliest colonial roots and the codification of the First Amendment to the explosion of the information highway. The book also documents the major challenges to freedom of the press that have highlighted its true missionto act as sentinel for the public, charged with the responsibility of providing information freely to all people.Author Stanley E. Flink, former correspondent of Life Magazine and writer/producer at NBC and CBS, explores the responsibility of the media and relates how only a competent, responsible presswhatever its means of distributioncan perform the role of watchdog over official abuse of power, business corruption, and political distortions. But, according to Flink, the acquisition of so many newspapers, magazines, and broadcasting facilities by corporate conglomerates threatens a new kind of prior restraint on an independent pressthe conflicts of interest; the power of advertising; the unspoken self-censorship of reporters and editors, print or electronic, based on the perceived predilections of their employers; and the financial interests of related companies.Flink believes that public interest is not served if the public is not adequately, openly, and widely informed on public issues. He also believes that responsible journalism can also be economically viable in the twenty-first century because the mass communication of reliable news reporting and media accountability will be vital to the democratic process. Unless the news media persistently seeks the high moral ground of public service, the first casualty will be an informed electorate.

Table of Contents:
IntroductionIn Search of a RoleThe Press and the LawMalice Without WitPomp and ProvenancePracticing FreedomThe Limits of LibertyCrafting a ConstitutionSafeguarding LibertyEnlarging the Fourth EstateThe Bloodiest WarThe Bottom LinesTurning AwayThe First and the FourteenthThe News BusinessToward ProfessionalismTrash and FlashThe Is and the OughtThe CriticsFear and LoathingThe Weight of ObligationsThe Paradox of Self-GovernmentLibel and LiabilityFree as the AirTraining the WatchdogsEpilogue: Pathfinding

About the Author :
Stanley E. Flink, former correspondent of Life Magazine and writer/producer at NBC and CBS, is adjunct associate professor of journalism at New York University Graduate School. A graduate of Yale University, he was the founding director of Yale's Office of Public Information.