Note:
Eric G. Olsen, The Right to Know in First Amendment Analysis, 57 Texas L. Rev. 505 (1979).
 

Abstract:
This note traces the development of the constitutional right to know, identifies the values the first amendment is designed to protect, and examines the utility of the right to know in promoting these values. A right to know illuminates the need for first amendment protection regardless of the speaker’s identity as an entity, such as a corporation or as an individual with limited constitutional rights. Recognition of this right to know focuses the courts’ attention on the first amendment values promoted by a particular act of expression, especially in the context of corporate and commercial speech. The note examines the advantages of recognizing a right to know when there is a voluntary source of information, a “willing speaker”—and individual or entity who voluntarily places or attempts to place information into the “marketplace of ideas.” Since it is possible to use the right to know to compel information or access, the term “right to receive” more accurately connotes the right to information from a willing speaker.