Zelezny Launches First-Amendment Website
August 2007 - Media-law textbook author
John Zelezny has launched a website that provides a concise,
eye-opening look at free-speech law in the United States.
Perhaps more than any other site on the
Internet, Zelezny's provides an easy-to-navigate guide to
how the First Amendment's free-speech clause is applied by
the courts and how it plays out in real-life issues. The site
is JohnZelezny.com.
Zelezny is the author of "Communications
Law: Liberties, Restraints, and the Modern Media," one of
the nation's most popular law textbooks for undergraduate
students in journalism, advertising, public relations and
related fields. For many years a university professor, he
now is a corporate communications executive in central California.
"There are many media-law and First
Amendment resources on the Web," Zelezny said. "But
I believed another was needed — a site that explains
for students or professionals, as directly as possible, how
this precious free-expression liberty really works. The public
needs to better understand free speech, and when it's being
threatened."
The site contains several useful sections
for students, including quotes on freedom of speech, a list
of key cases, and legal explanations of such key battle areas
as flag burning and broadcast indecency. Zelezny also will
post blogs periodically, and a special blog section will display
short question-and-answer interviews.
"I'm especially excited about the mini-interviews,"
Zelezny said. "They'll typically be five questions. And over
time, I'll post interviews with dozens of people who work
on the front lines of free expression."
Zelezny said he selected PlanetLink to
develop the site because of its excellent track record for
"educational, user-conscious sites."
