Free Expression and Censorship in America: An Encyclopedia

(Hardback)

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Description

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.

Reviews

Free Expression and Censorship in America is noteworthy for its treatment of contemporary issues and personalities--including the Internet and Howard Stern--as well as the full history of our country's interpretation of this basic tenet. Recommended for high-school, public, and academic libraries.-Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin
The text's thorough essays and diverse entries function as a valuable reference tool for anyone researching or just curious about the state of free expression in America today.-Libraries and Culture Book Review
"The text's thorough essays and diverse entries function as a valuable reference tool for anyone researching or just curious about the state of free expression in America today."-Libraries and Culture Book Review
"Free Expression and Censorship in America is noteworthy for its treatment of contemporary issues and personalities--including the Internet and Howard Stern--as well as the full history of our country's interpretation of this basic tenet. Recommended for high-school, public, and academic libraries."-Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin

Author Bio

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).