The Supreme Court and the Press: The Indispensable Conflict

Throughout its history, the Supreme Court has had a contentious relationship with the press. Yet, as Joe Mathewson shows, the Court and the Press provide crucial services for each other as well: the press educates the public about the Court's actions, and the court is charged withe protecting the freedoms on which the press relies. In The Supreme Court and the press, Mathewson charts the history of this complex dynamic, from the court's early neglect of the First Amendment through the press's coverage of today's most controversial cases. With this history in mind, Mathewson brings his expertise as a Journalist and lawyer to bear in offering a diagnosis of the current situation, as well as offering solutions to the present shortcomings in the relationship between these two essential institutions.

Joe Mathewson is a lecturer at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, a former Supreme Court reporter for the Wall Street Journal, the author of up Against Daley, and a contributor to the Chicago Tribune, BusinessWeek Online, Editor & Publisher Online, and the Chicago Sun-Times. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School and Practiced law in Chicago.
Fred Graham was the chief anchor and managing editor of CNN's In Session (formerly Courty TV) When it launched in 1991. A former legal reporter for the New york Times (1965-1972) and law correspondent for CBS News (1972-1987). He is the author of the Self-Inflicted Wound, Press Freedom under Pressure, the Alias Program, and Happy Talk: Confessions of a TV Newsman.