History serves dramatically to illustrate the need for continuing public awareness that our press freedoms must be protected. This is vital as we enter the new Information Age with all its promise for us and our descendants. That's why Corydon Dunham's book Fighting for the First Amendment is a must read. - Walter Cronkite (from the Foreword)
Foreword by Walter Cronkite
Introduction
Congressional Subpoena
The Selling of the Pentagon
Staggers' First Hearing on the Subpoena
Stanton: The Broadcast Executive
Stanton in Washington
Congress and Television News
The White House
Opposition Programming and The Selling of the Pentagon
Is This Fight Really Necessary?
"You Are in Contempt"
Down to the Wire
"Dear Colleagues"
The Constitutional Debate: Historical Moment for the Press
The Public's Interest
On a Personal Note: Stanton's Departure
Afterword
Selected Bibliography
Index
CORYDON B. DUNHAM was Executive Vice President and General Counsel of NBC for many years. Currently he is Counsel to Cahill Gordon & Reindel and has served as Guest Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He is the author of numerous articles on issues related to free press and communications.
"At a time when network television news was at its best, its
independence was under constant challenge by the White House, the
Congress, and the Federal Communication Commission. For those who
lived through the era Fighting for the First Amendment is a welcome
refresher. For those who didn't, it is an important lesson."-Scot
Powe Professor of Law and holder of Anne Green Regents Chair
University of Texas at Austin
"Dunham's captivating saga of the battle for broadcast freedom is
like a gripping mystery novel, infused with the insight and
analytic power of a foremost First Amendment advocate and with
striking current relevance for today's information
superhighway."-Jerome J. Shestack President, American Bar
Association
"Dunham's report on Frank Stanton's heroic defense of the First
Amendment in the early 1970s is important, fascinating, and very
relevant in this age of the Internet. Anyone interested in press
freedom--indeed freedom--should read it."-Marvin Kalb Edward R.
Murrow Professor of Press and Public Policy Director of the Joan
Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy John F.
Kennedy School of Government Harvard University
"Frank Stanton comes as close as anyone to being the patron saint
of broadcast journalism. We will, I fear, not see his like
again."-Don Hewitt Executive Producer 60 Minutes
"Frank Stanton is a living legend at CBS News and throughout the
broadcast press. His crusade for the recognition of the First
Amendment rights of broadcast reporters is the keystone of that
legend. This was his finest hour, and we are fortunate to find in
Corydon Dunham so able a chronicler. Anyone who values the freedom
to speak and publish needs to know how narrowly that freedom was
protected in this country, only a few years ago. And as Dunham
reminds us, the battles are far from over, and we are sorely in
need of more Frank Stantons to lead us."-Dan Rather CBS News
"History serves dramatically to illustrate the need for continuing
public awareness that our press freedoms must be protected. This is
vital as we enter the new Information Age with all its promise for
us and our descendants. That's why Corydon Dunham's book Fighting
for the First Amendment is must reading."-Walter Cronkite (from the
Foreword)Anchorman and Managing Editor The CBS Evening News,
1962-1991
"It is non-fiction but it reads almost like a novel, with a cast of
characters that includes two Presidents, a covey of Congressional
titans and one broadcasting executive icon, in a fascinating
struggle of competing agendas--political, financial, personal--a
struggle to confirm broadcast journalism's right to the protection
of the First Amendment of the Constitution."-Mike Wallace CBS
Correspondent 60 Minutes
"It's easy to talk in defense of the First Amendment. It's much
harder to put your very freedom on the line for it. But that's what
Dr. Frank Stanton did at a time when some of the most powerful
people in Washington wanted to force CBS News to knuckle under to
outside control of its editorial content. Frank Stanton risked jail
in order to stand up for freedom of the press. All of us--print as
well as broadcast--are in his debt. When Stanton led CBS he did so
with intelligence, civility and vision. Thank goodness he had one
more quality as demonstrated in his confrontation with Congress
over the First Amendment: Courage."-Sam Donaldson ABC News
"Lawyers aren't supposed to write this well, but Cory Dunham has
picked out an important moment in the life of our free press, and
given it spirit and meaning. Even as one who was in the thick of
it, I learned a lot by reading about things I had forgotten. This
is a book of entertaining scholarship."-Julian Goodman Former
President of NBC
"This book is about a remarkable moment in defense of the First
Amendment, and the remarkable man who rose to the occasion. Read
it--and you will never take freedom of the press for granted
again."-Bill Moyers
"This brilliant look at a major event in American broadcasting's
battle to be free is a marvelous tribute to Frank Stanton's courage
and his position as one of the greatest figures in broadcast
history. Even those who lived through these conflicts with big
government will find Cory Dunham of NBC revealing things that even
we CBS insiders didn't know until now. Easy to read, extensively
researched, this book also clearly shows how the lessons of a
struggle in 1971 are as fresh today for the Internet, cable and the
other innovations which will dominate information dissemination in
the 21st century."-Bill Small Larkin Professor of Communication,
Fordham University Past President NBC News and UPI Former Senior
Vice President, CBS News
?Corydon Dunham...has written a passionate account of the
Congressional-media uproarfollowing the broadcast of a CBS
documentary called The Selling of the Pentagon' on Feb. 23,
1971.?-Greenwich Time
?Dunham...has written an absolutely gripping account of the parlous
times in 1971 when, after CBS News broadcast a documentary called
The Selling of the Pentagon, CBS News was investigated by a
committee of Congress with support from the Nixon White
House....Besides providing invaluable historical perspective...the
author gives fascinating insights into the relationships and
antagonisms prevailing among CBS's top brass....Fighting for the
First Amendment is a page-turner, a dramatic evocation of what the
author aptly calls a defining moment for broadcast
journalism.'?-Television Quarterly
?Highly recommended for all collections in journalism,
communications law, and US history.?-Choice
?Media mavens will drool for [this] meaty volume....Fighting for
the First Amendment captures a past battle between government and
the electronic media: 'Selling the Pentagon' confrontation between
CBS president Frank Stanton and politicians--in Congress and
Nixon's White House--who tried to use the broadcast media's
narrower press-freedom standards to restrain journalists' ability
to investigate and report. Dunham was for many years a top
executive and general counsel for NBC, so he understands the issues
as well as the venues of this story. Like Stanton did years ago,
Dunham maintains that broadcast journalists should have the same
First Amendment protection as print reporters.?-Booklist
?The book is meticulously documented....Dunham is knowledgeable,
and the book is well orgainzed, concise and scholarly.?-Journalism
History
?Five Stars (exceptional).?-Today's Books
?Five Stars (exceptional).??Today's Books
"Media mavens will drool for Ýthis¨ meaty volume....Fighting for
the First Amendment captures a past battle between government and
the electronic media: 'Selling the Pentagon' confrontation between
CBS president Frank Stanton and politicians--in Congress and
Nixon's White House--who tried to use the broadcast media's
narrower press-freedom standards to restrain journalists' ability
to investigate and report. Dunham was for many years a top
executive and general counsel for NBC, so he understands the issues
as well as the venues of this story. Like Stanton did years ago,
Dunham maintains that broadcast journalists should have the same
First Amendment protection as print reporters."-Booklist
"Corydon Dunham...has written a passionate account of the
Congressional-media uproarfollowing the broadcast of a CBS
documentary called The Selling of the Pentagon' on Feb. 23,
1971."-Greenwich Time
"Dunham...has written an absolutely gripping account of the parlous
times in 1971 when, after CBS News broadcast a documentary called
The Selling of the Pentagon, CBS News was investigated by a
committee of Congress with support from the Nixon White
House....Besides providing invaluable historical perspective...the
author gives fascinating insights into the relationships and
antagonisms prevailing among CBS's top brass....Fighting for the
First Amendment is a page-turner, a dramatic evocation of what the
author aptly calls a defining moment for broadcast
journalism.'"-Television Quarterly
"Five Stars (exceptional)."-Today's Books
"Highly recommended for all collections in journalism,
communications law, and US history."-Choice
"The book is meticulously documented....Dunham is knowledgeable,
and the book is well orgainzed, concise and scholarly."-Journalism
History
"Media mavens will drool for [this] meaty volume....Fighting for
the First Amendment captures a past battle between government and
the electronic media: 'Selling the Pentagon' confrontation between
CBS president Frank Stanton and politicians--in Congress and
Nixon's White House--who tried to use the broadcast media's
narrower press-freedom standards to restrain journalists' ability
to investigate and report. Dunham was for many years a top
executive and general counsel for NBC, so he understands the issues
as well as the venues of this story. Like Stanton did years ago,
Dunham maintains that broadcast journalists should have the same
First Amendment protection as print reporters."-Booklist
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