BEA2025

This panel promises lively debate regarding academe’s role in checking authoritarian assaults on media, based largely on the recent book by Mascaro and the late William E. Porter (Assault on the Media: The Nixon Years, Updated with Analysis of 21st Century Threats to Democracy, 2024). Panelists will update media law & policy, antitrust and regulatory issues, applied history, and the debate over cultural studies as a critique of power.

Moderator: Ralph Beliveau, University of Oklahoma
Amy Sindik, Central Michigan University; Considers a half century of post-Nixon media law, including the Pentagon Papers impact on journalism, modern [secret] prior restraint, confidentiality as a currency of power, and teaching media law amidst attacks on journalism.
Stuart Brotman, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Assesses antitrust and regulatory issues in terms of helping or hurting the press, the FCC vs. the Office of Telecommunications Policy, and First Amendment freedoms in light of new communication and surveillance technologies.
Tom Mascaro, Bowling Green State University; Proposes “applied history” by journal editors and working groups to take stock of battles between authoritarians and journalism advocacy, as both journalists and college faculty members are under siege.
Ralph Beliveau, University of Oklahoma and Tom Mascaro; Concludes the session by sharing their years-long debate over cultural studies as a “check” on power or an anemic self-serving “critique.” It is no longer enough to “right” or “smart” as academics; it’s time to be more proactive. M