Free Expression and Censorship in America: An Encyclopedia - Hardcover

by Herbert Foerstel (Author)

Despite the end of the Cold War, America's national security apparatus for controlling information has remained in place. However, sex and secularism are emerging as the major targets of censorship. Federal decency standards have been imposed on art, the broadcast media, and the Internet. Virtually every major political issue of the 1990s (abortion, campaign finance, violence on TV, homosexuality, indecency on the Internet) has First Amendment implications, and all are included in this comprehensive encyclopedia.

This work covers the full history of America's struggle for free expression, as well as the contemporary dynamics represented by pop figures like Frank Zappa, Howard Stern, and Danny Goldberg and politicians like Jesse Helms and Don Edwards. It goes beyond other academic works of its kind by recognizing the primacy of the mass media and the Internet in defining the modern contours of the First Amendment.

Back Jacket

Abortion, campaign financing, TV violence, homosexuality, and indecency on the Internet all have First Amendment implications, and all have been major political issues in the 1990s. During this decade, sex and secularism emerged as major targets of censorship, and an increasing number of Americans tested the limits of the Federal "decency" standards that were imposed on the arts, the broadcast media, and the Internet. America's interest in free expression has been paralleled by the growth of a powerful system of secrecy and censorship. This comprehensive encyclopedia documents the full history of the struggle in Congress, in the courts, and in our communities to define the modern contours of the First Amendment.

Author Biography

HERBERT N. FOERSTEL is the former Head of Branch Libraries at the University of Maryland, College Park, and currently serves on the Board of the National Security Archive, located at the George Washington University. His previous books include: Climbing the Hill (Praeger, 1996), Banned in the USA (Greenwood, 1994), Secret Science (Praeger, 1993), and Surveillance in the Stacks (Greenwood, 1991).