Soley, Lawrence. Censorship, Inc: The Corporate Threat to Free Speech
in the United States. New York: Monthly Review Press, 2002. 308 pages.
Lawrence Soley, a journalism professor at Marquette University in
Milwaukee, takes a detailed look at the history of the First Amendment in
the U.S. as society becomes more privatized. From company towns and labor
camps during the first decades of the twentieth century, to shopping malls,
condos, and gated communities at the end of the century, the right to
free speech is increasingly challenged by the private-property claims of
big-business oligarchies. Other topics covered are labor blacklisting,
deregulation of the major media since the Reagan administration, and SLAPP
tactics (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation -- those nuisance
suits filed by powerful corporations against critics who disparage their
products, and also lack the money to defend themselves).
The last portion of this book studies the influence of advertisers
on the content of news stories and magazine journalism. Most editors
acknowledge privately that pressures from advertisers are part of daily
life on the job. Frequently the station owners and publishers who employ
editors, are found schmoozing with their advertisers at the Rotary Club
or the Chamber of Commerce. Together they amount to an "old boy" network
that leaves little room for journalistic ethics.
ISBN 1-58367-066-1
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