The right to be read: Newspapers vs. advertisers

Prospective advertisers occasionally cannot obtain space for their messages in newspapers. In a recent case, for example, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers challenged the four Chicago daily newspapers. These “refusal to deal” cases involve three major points. First, the First Amendment protects the disseminator of messages but does not assure that messages will ever be distributed. Second, the newspaper industry is essentially one of local monopolies with a few scattered local oligopolies; future rivalry is unlikely. And, third, the courts generally have been sympathetic to the publisher who refuses an advertisement, but the broadcast media are under greater legal obligation to present both sides of controversial issues.