The time could hardly be better, given the abundance of commercial speech activity in Washington and elsewhere, to begin a periodical devoted to news and commentary about advertising rights. Before you is the result of that initial effort.
Commercial Speech Digest will strive to bring you the best information available about commercial speech developments at the federal, state, and local levels, from all branches of government and the private sector as well.
Court decisions and regulatory developments will figure prominently in our coverage. To that we'll add insightful commentary, profiles of key people and organizations, summaries of academic studies, and whatever else will leave you better informed about commercial speech.
Editorially, we have a point of view: that truthful speech about lawful products and services deserves full First Amendment protection. We won't let that viewpoint get in the way of the facts. But don't be surprised to see a pro-First Amendment sensibility informing these pages.
The Digest will be published quarterly by Communications Research Corporation, an organization affiliated with
The Media Institute in Washington. The Institute has long demonstrated its support of the First Amendment (including commercial speech) through books, court briefs, and agency filings. The Digest will reflect a similar First Amendment philosophy.
You will notice that we have assembled a distinguished group of free-speech advocates to serve on our Editorial Board . You'll see the by-lines of several in this issue. They've done an excellent job, and their articles make good reading.
So sit back and take some time to see what we've done. I hope you'll feel free to let me know what you think of Commercial Speech Digest -- and how we can make it better for you.
Richard T. Kaplar
kaplar@mediainstitute.org
