Section V Libel
What is libel? Is it different from slander?
What are the three main defenses against a libel suit?
What are the five elements of libel that must be present if a plaintiff is to win a libel suit?
Legally and ethically, what should you do if your publication or broadcast has made a mistake?
Can you libel the dead? Why or why not?
What is the statute of limitations on libel and privacy suits?
What unanimous Supreme Court decision 1) protected freedom of speech and press; 2) protected political advertising; 3) established the doctrine of actual malice; and 4) made it difficult for public officials to win libel suits against critics? This is the court’s most important libel decision.
What is reckless disregard? (1) The Saturday Evening Post story “Football Fix” led to a libel case in which failure to check facts was seen as malice (reckless disregard for the truth) because the reporters did not verify the allegations.
What is reckless disregard? (2) The court said that mistakes in reporting news about public figures are not reckless if there is no time to check facts. This is the “hot news” case.
Who is a public figure in a libel case? Courts said it usually had to be someone who voluntarily put themselves into the center of a public issue. The plaintiff was a lawyer who represented a family suing the Chicago police. This was enough for a right-wing group to claim the lawyer was a communist, even though that was not true. The question was whether the right-wing group’s claims should be judged under the actual malice standard or the negligence standard. The courts said he was not a public figure because he did not put himself forward to the public. What case is this from?
It’s not libelous to say that a singing group sounds like the wailing of damned souls. What early “fair comment and criticism” case is this from?
Libel history: A long court fight between a cereal manufacturer and a magazine publisher ended in a draw. The publisher had accused the cereal maker of endangering the public with his (false) ideas that eating Grape Nuts will cure appendicitis
Libel history: President Teddy Roosevelt sues Joseph Pulitzer over allegations of bribery in building the Panama Canal.
Libel history: A car manufacturer sued a Chicago newspaper for libel after saying that Ford’s patriotism was flimsy.
Recent libel cases: TV talk show did not libel a Texas product under the Sullivan actual malice standard in a 1998 federal court decision
Recent libel cases: Court said a US senator’s press releases are not privileged
Recent libel cases: “Intentional infliction of emotional distress” is not an appropriate standard for cases involving defamation of public figures, the court said in what case?
Recent libel cases: An Atlanta columnist quoting a prominent scientist about his “theories” of racial inferiority was libelous, according a judge, but the jury awarded only one dollar.
Recent libel cases: A British group said McDonalds food was bad for health, bad for rain forests. They lost the libel suit but won on appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
Recent libel cases: If a company is “private,” and is still doing public business, a lawsuit against critics will be judged under the Sullivan standard.
Recent libel cases: Is comparing a climate scientist to a child molester within the boundaries of fair comment and criticism, or is it an allegation of fact disguised as opinion? (Ongoing case)
Recent libel cases: A list of “dirtiest hotels” was not libelous but is clearly unverifiable rhetorical hyperbole,” and that a reasonable person “would not confuse a ranking system, which uses consumer reviews as its litmus, for an objective assertion of fact
Recent libel cases: Toys R Us guard filmed while being arrested, sued TV. Court found TV did nothing wrong but did not dismiss on preliminary motion.