Word: gagged
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Rosenthal was smiling pleasantly. He looked relaxed and was obviously trying to put his younger visitor at ease, as he launched into one of his favorite topics, the freedom of the press. He perceives the recent gag orders that prohibit the press from reporting on certain trials, or aspects of them, as serious threats to the publication of the truth...
...where the program parodies merely fail, Tunnelvision's lampoons of TV commercials are real garbage, working in every crotch/ass joke and toilet gag available. Does an ad for "Columbia School of Proctology" tickle you? How about a "National Faggot Shoot"? (There's that word again; another goober please...
...DELAY. Gag orders can impede or compromise the public's access to information it has a right to have. ABC-TV, as a part of a 1973 documentary on fire hazards, had a segment showing a flaming plastic crib; the crib manufacturer, alleging potential damage to the firm's reputation, got a judge to order the film clip removed only hours before the broadcast. ABC excised the scene but fought the case successfully; nine months later the disputed film was shown on the evening news...
OFFICIAL MISCONDUCT. "As the presumed watchdog of democracy, the press must watch over the judicial system too," says Henry F. Schulte, dean of Syracuse University's journalism school. "Gag laws could cut into that function." After the Rockford Star in Illinois ran stories on patronage abuse in local courts, an alleged political appointee sued for libel. Citing the need to preserve a fair trial, a judge then ordered the Star not to write editorials about the issues, namely the worth of local courts. The Star violated the judge's gag and later got it thrown out on appeal...
...good compromise. "Before a judge could enter a restrictive order, he should be made to hold a hearing to explore all other possibilities [such as a change of venue]. At this hearing, not only the defense and prosecution but also the press could be heard on a proposed gag rule." Some answer with guidelines obviously is needed. Currently the third most litigated free-speech issue-after obscenity and libel-is the question of gag rules...