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.

America's interest in free expression has been paralleled by the growth of a powerful system of secrecy and censorship. This encyclopedia documents the major issues and prominent players in the development of the American system of secrecy and censorship.

About the Author

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).

Book Information
ISBN 9780313292316
Author Herbert N. Foerstel
Format Hardback
Page Count 272
Imprint Greenwood Press
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing Plc