The Illusion of the Free Press

John Charney is Associate Professor of Constitutional Law at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso.

1. Free Press: Necessary Illusions
I. Introduction
II. The Critique of the Political Economy of the Press
III. Technological Progress and the Construction of Social Reality
IV. Re-thinking the Illusion of the Free Press
2. The Classic Theory and the Quest for Truth
I. Introduction
II. John Milton: The Origins of the Theory
III. The Struggle for the Freedom of the Press
IV. John Stuart Mill and the Theory of Truth
V. Conclusions
3. Truth and Politics: Democratic Justifications of a Free Press
I. Introduction
II. Politics and Truth
III. Holmes and the Marketplace of Ideas
IV. Truth and Politics: Alexander Meiklejohn and the Critique of the Marketplace of Ideas
V. Robert Post’s Participatory Democracy: Politics without Truth
VI. Free Press and the Politics of Truth
VII. Conclusions
4. Freedom of Speech and Autonomy: Towards the Discovery of the True Self
I. Introduction
II. Early Techniques of Self-discovery
III. Personal Autonomy and Freedom of Speech
IV. Autonomy and Authenticity: Back to the True Self
V. The Free Press and Self-discovery
5. Freedom and Truth
I. Introduction
II. Truth, Freedom and the Political
III. Freedom as Non-Interference: Origins and Consolidation of Market Domination
IV. Domination and the Truth-seeking Purpose of the Press
V. Re-thinking the Relationship between Truth and Freedom
Conclusion