Word: libeling
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Herbert vs. Lando (1979). A libel plaintiff obliged to prove actual malice because he is a public figure has the right to inquire into a reporter's state of mind. Lando's CBS lawyers had argued that such questions could chill the free exchange of ideas in the newsroom...
...been ridiculed as wasteful by a U.S. Senator, a former Government translator who had been cited for contempt for refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating Soviet espionage, and a prominent Florida socialite embroiled in a highly publicized divorce were all held not to be "public figures" as libel plaintiffs. The court ruled that someone must "thrust" himself into a prominent public controversy in order to become a public figure. In effect, these decisions made it easier to sue for libel...
...16th century England, editors and "newswriters" were constantly in danger of imprisonment or torture, even of beheading, hanging and burning at the stake, sometimes for refusal to reveal the source of confidential information. Until nearly the end of the 18th century, libel in Britain was readily used to jail journalists and others. John Walter, publisher of the young London Times, was confined for nearly a year and a half to Newgate Prison, from which he managed to run his newspaper...
...newsman's state of mind and his preparations for a story were legitimate subjects of inquiry, this evoked visions of thought police; and yet it was only a consequence of an earlier pro-press ruling that a public figure, in order to be able to sue for libel, must prove "actual" malice and gross neglect on the part of the journalist. Most newsmen do not demand confidentiality of sources automatically, but only when naming sources or delivering notes is not strictly necessary to meet the specific needs of a defendant. (Many judges in fact agree with this view...
Warned the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press: "These decisions will encourage harassing libel suits and will discourage news about public events." For large publishing and broadcasting organizations, the risk is probably small. But the threat of libel may inhibit any small newspaper or publishing house that lacks the resources to defend itself...