Freedom of the Press, which is part of the first amendment, can be characterized as immunity of the communications media (newspapers, books, magazines, radio, and television) from government control or censorship. Freedom of the press is fundamental to individual rights. Without free media, a free society would not be possible. By recognizing the right of expression and the right to dissent, democratic governments protect the right of people to express themselves and encourage peaceful and orderly social and political change.
Freedom of the press, however, is not absolute. It has long been established that the press may not be used in circumstances that would create a clear danger to something the government has a right or duty to protect. For example, in times of war, the government has a duty to protect the people, therefore exposing government tactics, weapons, etc. is illegal because it would bring a danger to the people. Another important limit on the free press is the law of libel. libel involves false accusations, defamation and ridicule directed towards another person. There are defenses to libel though, such as truth. If an accusation is made against someone which destroys their reputation and the accusations are proven to be false, they can be sued. However, if the accusations are true, then they have a strong defense. Also public officials cannot easily sue someone who makes accusations against them unless it can be proven that the accusations were made with malice and were proven to be false or were made without regard whether they were false or not.
When Congress met in 1789, one of their main concerns was the creation of the Bill of Rights, which concerned the protection of speech and expression. The First Amendment guarantees that, along with other human liberties such as religion, assembly and petition. It states, "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or the press.