Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected a claim by Larry Flynt and Hustler magazine that journalists have a First Amendment right to be embedded with military units so as to facilitate war coverage. Specifically, Flynt claimed a right (in his attorney’s words) to “go[] in [to battle] with the military.” As the Court explained the claim
This right is different from merely a right to cover war. The Government has no rule-at least so far as Flynt has made known to us-that prohibits the media from generally covering war. Although it would be dangerous, a media outlet could presumably purchase a vehicle, equip it with the necessary technical equipment, take it to a region in conflict, and cover events there. . . .
With that distinction made, appellants’ claim comes more sharply into focus. They claim that the Constitution guarantees to the media-specifically Hustler‘s correspondent-the right to travel with military units into combat, with all of the accommodations and protections that entails-essentially what is currently known as “embedding.” Indeed, at oral argument appellants’ counsel stated that the military is “obligated to accommodate the press because the press is what informs the electorate as to what our government is doing in war.”
In rejecting Flynt’s claims, the Court held that the FIrst Amendment right asserted simply does not exist. The full opinion in Flynt v. Rumsfeld is available here.
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