Abstract
‘American publishers and broadcasters are increasingly exercising self-censorship to avoid costly litigation’ says the editor of Freedom of Information Digest, giving a pessimistic assessment of the situation
Despite a strong tradition of press freedom and (especially since Watergate) increasingly aggressive investigative journalism in the USA, the country's libel laws can inhibit journalists and lead to self-censorship. The authors of the two articles that follow examine the effect of libel legislation on the US press — one from a journalist's, the other a lawyer's point of view.