Description: Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are guaranteed by the First Amendment. Yet where do we as a society draw the line between tolerance and censorship? How are we to regulate the content of television, the press, movies, music lyrics, art -- and now the Internet and the World Wide Web? Whose standards prevail? Whose ethics?

Bestselling author Ted Schwarz brings remarkable insight and clarity to this increasingly volatile debate. With an insider's eye, and drawing on famous and infamous cases and examples, he surveys the landscape of mass communication and records both disturbing and hopeful findings. Revealing highlights and lowlights in the checkered history of the media, Schwarz analyzes the hidden practices of contemporary media moguls, the dubious tactics of news gathering and delivery, the soul of televangelism, the decades-long controversy over music lyrics, and the emerging dilemmas of digital communication. Throughout, he raises fundamental questions about a society's responsibilities to its citizenry -- and, ultimately, to the education of its children.

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