1. The news media; print and broadcast news organizations collectively. [Cases: Constitutional Law 90(2). C.J.S. Constitutional Law § 539.]
“The Constitution specifically selected the press, which includes not only newspapers, books, and magazines, but also humble leaflets and circulars, to play an important role in the discussion of public affairs.” Mills v. Alabama, 384 U.S. 214, 219, 86 S.Ct. 1434, 1437 (1966).
“ ‘Press’ could refer to one or more subsets of media, defined either by function or form. To the extent that existing law defines ‘the press’ at all, it does so mostly in terms of specific media forms. The Supreme Court has addressed the matter only obliquely …. [I]t has never had to decide whether a particular litigant was ‘press.’ In most cases the question does not arise because the claimed right would be protected as fully by the Speech Clause as by the Press Clause. The cases in which the Court seems to rely on the Press Clause have involved newspapers or magazines whose status as press was unquestioned. The Court on other occasions has mentioned ‘publishers and broadcasters,’ ‘the media,’ ‘editorial judgment,’ ‘editorial control,’ ‘journalistic discretion,’ and ‘newsgathering’ as possible objects of protection. The most famous discussion of the meaning of the Press Clause, a 1974 speech by Justice Stewart, identified its beneficiaries as ‘the daily newspapers and other established media,’ or ‘newspapers, television, and magazines.’ ” David A. Anderson, Freedom of the Press, 80 Texas L. Rev. 429, 436 (2002).
2. Hist. A piece of parchment, as one sewed together to make up a roll or record of judicial proceedings.
