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The Constitutional Case for Addressing Critical Information Needs

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The Communication Crisis in America, And How to Fix It

Abstract

In this chapter, the authors argue that addressing the critical information needs of the diverse American public is a compelling governmental interest, and that a fuller appreciation of the local media ecology provides regulators with the tools to narrowly tailor policy to meet the governmental duty to protect the public. Part I of this chapter traces the historical underpinnings of the U.S. Constitution’s embrace of the duty to protect citizens and will show how that duty is advanced in the modern government in the area of speech. Part II explains why strict scrutiny is not fatal to government policies focused on the provision of critical information needs to the diverse US public. This chapter will conclude with a suggestion of narrowly tailored policies.

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Lloyd, M., Park, M. (2016). The Constitutional Case for Addressing Critical Information Needs. In: Lloyd, M., Friedland, L. (eds) The Communication Crisis in America, And How to Fix It. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-94925-0_15

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