Exam 2 Study Guide Chapter 4 1 Libel Defamation Libel publication or broadcast of any statement that o Injuries someone s reputation o Lowers that person s esteem in the community Libel is a tort civil wrong The most common legal problem faced in mass media and most troublesome o 2 3 of all legal complaints are libel 2 Aspects That Make Libel Problems Worse Time and Money o The protracted nature of libel cases and the high cost of defending them can result in heavy financial burdens for the defendant o Longer case more money paid to attorneys Damages Sought and Won o Plaintiffs often make outrageous damage claims and at times win enormous damage rewards The Libel Puzzle o Libel law is complicate and confusing which leads jurors and judges to make erroneous decisions because they don t understand the law o The likelihood of defamatory material being published or broadcast today is extraodanirly high a Large volume of words and pictures transmitted in the media o Important libel defenses are anchored in The First Amendment a A juror sees damages to a persons reputation more clearly that the values in freedom of press o Mass media is not held in high regard a Juror can express frustration with the press by awarding libel damages to plaintiffs o Plaintiffs file frivolous libel lawsuits to try to silence their critics in the press and the public o SLAPP Suits Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation a Plaintiff is more interested in blocking the defendant from publishing further harmful comments than winning damages The Lawsuit as a Weapon o Anti SLAPP Suits Citizen Participation Act a Permits defendant to dismiss the complaint immediately 3 Law of Defamation Ancient in its roots and can be traced back centuries Law was initially an attempt by government to establish a forum for persons involved in a dispute brought about by a defamatory remark Law has evolved Law of defamation includes o Libel written defamation o Slander oral defamation Published communication Vs Interpersonal communication o All published communication today is treated as libel 4 Elements of Libel 1 Defamation is a communication that damages the reputation of a person but not necessarily the individuals character o Character what you are o Reputation what people think you are o Law protects reputation not character 2 To be actionable defamation the words must actually damage a o Proof must be offered that the individual s reputation was reputation harmed 3 Significant minority of the community must believe that the plaintiffs reputation has been damaged o Minority must not be an underrepresented minority o Important because it protects the communicator from being successfully sued for publishing something about an individual that appears innocent but is offensive to only a small number of under represented people 5 To Win A Libel Suit A Plaintiff Must Prove 1 The libel was published Publication exposing an allegedly libelous statement to one person in addition to the subject of that libel One person is not all it takes People mistakenly believe the attributing a libel to a third party with shield them from a lawsuit but this is not true o Publishers and Vendors newsvendors bookstores and libraries and those who distribute the libel cannot be held responsible a Scienter guilty knowledge 2 The words were of and concerning the plaintiff o Libel on the Internet Courts regard communication on the Web the same way they regard published material Two issues a Status of OSPs in transmission of libel b Jurisdiction Identification the requirement that the plaintiff must prove that at least one person believes that the subject of the libelous remark is the plaintiff and not some other person A reporter should always get complete identification of a news story o Confirms that he or she is writing about the correct person Can occur in several ways o A plaintiff can be explicitly named o Defendant can use a name that suggests a defendant s name Group Identification o Size of the group matters a Small group hard to convince that identification occurred b Big group improbable that suit will stand 3 The material is defamatory Focuses on word themselves and places them in two categories o Words that are libelous thief cheat traitor a Libel per se o Words are innocent on their face but become defamatory if the reader or viewer knows the facts b Libel per quod Other types of defamation o Criminal behavior o Sexual References o Personal habits o Ridicule o Business Reputation a Business professionals are not expected to be perfect therefore the single mistake rule exists b Single Mistake Rule it is not libelous to accuse a professional person or business person of making a single mistake o Criticism of a Product a Falls into disparagement of property aka trade libel b Trade libel focuses on the product itself and is an attack on the product NOT LIBEL c Libel of a business focuses on the alleged failing of the people that operate the business Attack on the company as well as the product o Banks Insurance Companies and Vegetables 4 The material is false Falsity The first rule proving truth or falsity is that the evidence presented in court must go to the heart or libelous charge 5 The defendant was at fault Even if a story contains nothing but truthful statements it still might be regarded as false if important facts are left out and the story leaves a false impression CHAPTER 5 1 New York Times v Sullivan A violent civil rights struggle was occurring in the Deep South of America in the late 1950 s and early 1960 s March 29 1960 the Times published an editorial advertisement called Heed Their Rising Voices o Solicited funds to support MLK o The ad leveled charges against public officials in the south that used violence and illegal tactics to quell a peaceful civil rights movement o Ad contained small factual errors o Alabama brought lawsuit against the NY Times Sullivan sued for 500 000 in damages Alabama Supreme Court upheld it US Supreme Court unanimously reversed the decision and ruled Sullivan would receive no damages Established the actual malice standard which has to be met before press reports about public officials can be considered to be defamation and libel o Allowed free reporting of the civil rights campaigns in the southern United States 2 Rationale for the Ruling libel It is one of the key decisions supporting the freedom of the press Seditious Libel o Stripped of its civil libel cover the case was clearly one of
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