Freedom of the press exists within the US legal framework. Because the First Amendment only guaranteed “freedom of the press” without actually qualifying its meaning, what exactly constitutes freedom of the press has been a matter of ongoing interpretation. As such, freedom of the press is mainly a matter of common law. Common law describes a legal system in which judges determine the law through precedent. When no precedent exists, or when the law must be refined, judges issue rulings to serve as future precedent. The most definitive cases of precedent come from the highest judicial authority, the US Supreme Court. Thus, freedom of the press has been shaped mostly by a series of Supreme Court rulings over the past two centuries.

However, freedom of the press is also influenced by two other US legal frameworks: statutory and regulatory law. Statutory law describes laws created by a legislative body, while regulatory law describes laws mandated by the executive branch. Legislatures, largely at the state level, have enacted statutory laws regarding freedom of the press. In some cases, such as the Freedom of Information Act, these laws offer greater liberty to the press. In others, as in anti-defamation and privacy legislation, the legislation acts to restrict, within constitutional boundaries, the freedom of the press.