Includes index.

Preface -- Table of cases -- The First Amendment in perspective -- Defamation and mass communication -- Privacy and the mass media -- The First Amendment, true threats, emotional and physical harm and cyberstalking -- Copyright and trademark -- Restraint of obscene and indecent expression -- Restraint of the press for purposes of national security -- The free press-fair trial conflict -- Freedom to gather news and information -- The reporter's privilege, subpoenas, contempt citations and searches and seizures -- Regulation of commercial speech -- Regulation of broadcasting -- Cable and other technologies.

"Mass Communication Law in a Nutshell satisfies the need for a basic text in communication law, not only for law students but for journalism and communication students as well. Highlights of the Ninth Edition of the popular book include: a discussion of the Sandy Hook parents' defamation suits against Alex Jones and Dominion Voting Systems' trade libel suit against Fox News; the question of whether Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act provides immunity from suit to social media platforms, or whether these platforms can be sued for product liability if their algorithms encourage children to accidentally strangle themselves as in TikTok's Blackout Challenge; whether Section 230 provides immunity from suit to platforms such as PornHub, or whether victims of sex trafficking can sue PornHub under the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA); numerous social media issues including cyberstalking, catfishing, trolling, doxxing, swatting and posting threats; whether the state of New York can stop the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from gaining access to individuals' personally identifiable information (PII) at the Internal Revenue Service, and whether DOGE qualifies as an 'agency' under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); whether the dog toy 'Bad Spaniels' infringes on the trademark for Jack Daniels; impact of social media on the free press-fair trial conflict; whether police had a right to search the home of 98 year-old newspaper owner Joan Meyer, resulting in her dying of heart attack from stress that the search caused; the Supreme Court's decision undercutting the 1984 'Chevron doctrine' which will limit the authority of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Federal Communication Commission (FCC) so that only Congress, not the FCC, can impose net-neutrality policies in the future" -- From publisher's website.