The Twelfth Edition examines the legal implications of changes in media systems and services wherever they occur. It both traces communications law issues to their sources and considers their future directions. The text reviews the historical and constitutional foundations of free expression, and the implications of mass communications law for the citizen. It explores the governmental regulation of broadcasting, new media, advertising and copyright. It discusses citizens' rights with regard to fact-gathering. And it surveys the ongoing consolidation and globalization of the mass media and the means by which communications are distributed.