The First Amendment and the doctrine of corporate personhood

Collapsing the press–corporation distinction

Bibliographic Data

ID7477973
AuthorsDavid S Allen (0000-0002-1864-212X, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, corresponding author)
Year2001
Volume2
Issue3
Pages255-278
Publication date2001-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournalism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1464-8849 • E-ISSN: 1741-3001
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/146488490100200303
OpenAlexW1991269864
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited17

This article traces the development of the American idea that corporations are people and entitled to constitutional rights – commonly referred to as corporate personhood – and what that development means for the press and democratic life. In the opinion of many US Supreme Court justices, the press is entitled to special constitutional privileges because of the unique role it plays in democracy. The Court has also endowed corporations with many of those same rights, in part to serve as a check on the corporate press. With the growing corporate ownership of American media, the Court has struggled to find clear reasons for how the press is different from corporations. It is argued that by collapsing the press–corporation distinction, the Court is creating an avenue for corporate values to dominate the public sphere

Constitution · Constitutional amendment · Corporation · Democracy · Doctrine · First amendment · Personhood · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Supreme court · Freedom of Expression and Defamation · Law in Society and Culture · Law, Rights, and Freedoms · Law

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