Printers and Press Freedom

In this study of the origins of the press clause of the First Amendment, Jeffery A. Smith traces the development of a widespread conception of the press as necessarily exempt from all government restrictions, but still liable for the defamation of individuals. Drawing on sources ranging from political philosophers to court records and newspaper essayists, Smith concludes that the generation that produced the First Amendment believed that government should not be trusted and that the press needed the broadest possible protection in order to serve as a check on the misuse of power.