Filming the First

Bruce Altschuler is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at SUNY Oswego. Helen J. Knowles-Gardner is Research Director at the Institute for Free Speech. Brandon T. Metroka is Associate Professor of Political Science and Pre-Law Program Coordinator at University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas.

• Chapter 1. Censorship in a Time of War: Good Morning, VietnamBy Helen J. Knowles-GardnerChapter 2. A Media Mogul Battles Against His Fictional Doppelganger: Citizen Kane and RKO 281By Bruce E. AltschulerChapter 3. Heroic Newspaper Reporters, Editors, and Publishers Battle the President – All the President’s Men and The PostBy Bruce E. AltschulerChapter 4. Technology Transforms the Press into the Media: Network and The Social NetworkBy Bruce E. AltschulerChapter 5. “How Can We Possibly Approve and Check the Story…?”: Good Night, and Good Luck and The China SyndromeBy Helen J. Knowles-GardnerChapter 6. Testing the Limits of Freedom: Denial and Deliberate IntentBy Helen J. Knowles-GardnerChapter 7. Responsibility Matters: Shattered GlassBy Helen J. Knowles-GardnerChapter 8. Creating Protagonists, Competing Interests, and Uncertain Legal Standards: The People vs. Larry Flynt and CitizenfourBy Brandon T. MetrokaChapter 9. A Tale of One Press Clause and Two Journalisms: Spotlight and Out in the NightBy Brandon T. MetrokaChapter 10. Mainstream Press Negligence and its Effects: The Normal Heart and Tongues UntiedBy Brandon T. Metroka

Although judges declare what the law is, ordinary citizens usually learn more about legal principles from watching movies than from reading court decisions. Filming the First expertly evaluates the ways in which films portray the constitutional guarantee of a free press. From Citizen Kane to The Social Network and Spotlight, Knowles-Gardner, Altschuler, and Metroka seamlessly weave together discussions of cinematic technique, historical context, primary sources, and polling data. The result is an insightful and accessible assessment of how filmmakers dramatize freedom of the press and how the public processes these dramas in a time of increasing distrust.