But the point is this: from the outset a key discourse of American life has entertained different and contradictory notions of the practice of communication—one that derives from modern advances in the printing press and transportation and one that is situated within the ancient theory and practice of the voice. The contradiction is symbolized, though hardly resolved, by the uneasy juxtaposition of assembly, speech, and press in the First Amendment.

James W. Carey, Communication as Culture: E…, loc. 67825