Ever since, the First Amendment has served as the conscience and shield of all Americans. In those early days, the media, created by printing presses, were few and simple -- newspapers, pamphlets and books. Today the media also include television, radio, films and the Internet; and the term "the press" refers to any news operation in any media, not just print. …show more content…
because of this broad constitutional protection of press freedom and analogous provisions in the constitutions of the 50 states. Existing laws tend to provide additional protections in categories not covered by the Constitution. The Privacy Act of 1974, for example, regulates the collection and dissemination of personal information contained in the files of federal agencies; the Privacy Protection Act of 1980 establishes protection from police searches of newsrooms. Additional examples include federal and state Freedom of Information and "sunshine" laws (such as the 1966 federal Freedom of Information Act) which opens up executive-branch records to public and press