Big Media's Abuse of The First Amendment

I saw this post at BuzzMachine, and it got me to put in words something that has been bothering me for years. I've long felt that the First Amendment was being used as a Trojan Horse by Big Media.

Consider it from GM's point of view: How would you like to duck behind an Iwo Jima-esque defensive wall, obliterating all but the most cursory restrictions on your product, but still get to treat what you sell as product in every other way? I can think of at least two examples where speech goes over the line, and becomes merely a 'sold product', no different from pencils. If 'speech' has been focus - grouped, it's PRODUCT, not speech. If tie-in products are sold, it's PRODUCT, not speech. Particularly if tie-ins are sold BEFORE the release of the (movie, or whatever).

Focus matters, too. If your focus is news and/or opinion, you are much less likeley to simply be selling pencils than if you'e also selling "Jackass". Think Dow Jones versus Disney, for example. Size matters, too. The bigger you are, the more apt the 'speech' is really going to be 'product' rather than speech. Accessibility matters, too. It's a lot easier to stomach content you have to directly pay for than content that's ad-supported. And the standard can be lower for one than the other.

...But what of the novelist, you ask? The playwright, moviemaker, or sitcom "company"? Damn good questions, all. Raising the issue is still important, because curbing obvious abuses by multinationals can mitigate potential backlash, ironically keeping all of our rights a little safer...