An Aristocracy of Critics: Luce, Hutchins, Niebuhr, and the Committee That Redefined Freedom of the Press

By: Stephen Bates

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Synopsis: The story behind the 1940s Commission on Freedom of the Press—groundbreaking then, timelier than ever now"A well-constructed, timely study, clearly relevant to current debates."—Kirkus, starred review In 1943, Time Inc. editor-in-chief Henry R. Luce sponsored the greatest collaboration of intellectuals in the twentieth century. He and University of Chicago president Robert Maynard Hutchins summoned the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, the Pulitzer-winning poet Archibald MacLeish, and ten other preeminent thinkers to join the Commission on Freedom of the Press. They spent three years wrestling with subjects that are as pertinent as ever: partisan media and distorted news, activists who silence rather than rebut their opponents, conspiracy theories spread by shadowy groups, and the survivability of American democracy in a post-truth age. The report that emerged, A Free and Responsible Press, is a classic, but many of the commission&’s sharpest insights never made it into print. Journalist and First Amendment scholar Stephen Bates reveals how these towering intellects debated some of the most vital questions of their time—and reached conclusions urgently relevant today.

Book Quality:: Publisher Quality
ISBN-13:: 9780300255799
Publisher:: Yale University Press
Date of Addition:: 10/27/20
Copyrighted By:: Stephen Bates
Adult content:: No
Language:: English
Has Image Descriptions:: No
Categories:: History, Nonfiction, Computers and Internet, Law, Legal Issues and Ethics, Communication, Politics and Government
Submitted By:: Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:: This is a copyrighted book.