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31 Fed. Comm. L.J. 201 (1978-1979)
The First Amendment and the New Media--New Directions in Regulating Telecommunications

handle is hein.journals/fedcom31 and id is 209 raw text is: ARTICLES The First Amendment and the New Media-New Directions in Regulating Teleconmunicationst By David L. Bazelon* Ten years ago, in the landmark Red Lion case,' the Supreme Court rejected a First Amendment challenge to the FCC's so-called personal attack rules, part of the broader fairness doctrine. Justice White, writing for the Court, ob- served: [D]ifferences in the characteristics of new media jus- tify differences in the First Amendment standards applied to them.'2 The Red Lion decision stirred widespread controversy about the role of the First Amendment in telecommunications regulation. Yet the problem has plagued thoughtful observers of the broadcast industry since radio first transformed the way we learn about the world, more than a half century ago. I have observed the strains between the First Amendment and the or- derly use of the airwaves for thirty years. My vantage point has been the court that is charged with a major responsibility for reconciling those two, often antagonistic concerns. Today I would like to explore with you, practitioners, stu- dents and critics of the new media, the assumptions underly- t This address was delivered to the UCLA Communications Law Sym- posium-1979, The Foreseeable Future of Television Networks, Los Angeles, California, Feb. 2, 1979. Copyright D 1979, David L. Bazelon. * Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. 1. Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC, 395 U.S. 367 (1969). 2. Id. at 386 (footnote omitted).

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