The government cannot require the media to publish information against its will; prevent the publication of an article even if there is reason to believe it would reveal information with national security implications; impose criminal penalties, or civil damages, on the publication of truthful information about a matter of public concern or on the dissemination of false and damaging information about a public person except in rare instances; impose taxes on the press that it does not levy on other businesses; compel journalists to reveal, in many circumstances, the identities of their sources; prohibit the press from attending judicial proceedings and informing the public about them. Collectively, this bundle of rights defines the “freedom of the press” guaranteed by the First Amendment.
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