Word: libel
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...heard-and felt and believed-while he covered the ravaged precincts of Beirut and the troubled ruling circles of Israel before and after the 1982 massacre. Halevy's highly personal account was required because his credibility and state of mind are principal issues in a $50 million libel suit brought by former Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon against TIME...
...Lebanese President-elect. The passage, based on Halevy's reporting, stated that Sharon "reportedly discussed with the Gemayels the need for the Phalangists to take revenge" for Bashir's assassination, adding that "the details of the. conversation are not known." Calling the story a "blood libel" on Israel, Sharon claims that TIME accused him of instigating the massacre and injured his reputation...
...potentially biggest news stories of the year are currently playing themselves out in the same Federal court house in New York. Two well-known generals, William Westmoreland and Ariel Sharon, are suing two of the United States' biggest news organizations for libel. Westmoreland, former commander of the American forces in Vietnam, is suing CBS for $120 million ever a documentary it broadcast in 1982 charging that Westmoreland had taken part in a "conspiracy" during the war "to suppress and alter critical intelligence on the enemy." Sharon, mastermind of Israel's invasion of Lebanon, is suing Time magazine for $50 million...
Both cases have attracted widespread media attention, but both are also part of a larger trend: an increased number of libel cases, many involving enormous some of money, being brought against the media by high officials in government. Sen. Paul Laxalt (R-Nev.) has sued the McClatchy Newspaper California for an article linking him to a scandal involving a Nevada casino, white South Dakota Gov. William Janklow has sued Viking Press and one of its authors over recent references to him in a book...
This "outbreak" of libel cases has raised a host of interesting questions concerning the role of a free press in the United States. What is the reason for this trend, and what are its implications for the way the press goes about doing its business? Has the press become arrogant? How can a public official redress what he or she sees as an unjustified attack on his or her reputation...