Word: libellant
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...Supreme Court, which has not made a ruling on libel since 1979, last month heard oral arguments on a case involving critical judgments. Bose Corp. had sued Consumer Reports magazine for writing that one type of its audio speakers produced sound that "tended to wander about the room." A federal judge awarded Bose $115,000, but an appeals court overturned the decision on the ground that the company had not proved that the magazine was guilty of malice. The appeals court ignored the issue of whether the statements in question were presented as fact or opinion. Since the principal service...
...significance of Chow's victory, however, could be far heavier than his pancakes. At stake in the case, say libel experts, is the right of critics to express their own judgments. Reviews, which are by nature subjective opinions, have generally been exempt from the standards of libel applied to news stories. But the distinction in libel cases between reporting and criticism is now being called into question...
...Indeed, libel verdicts have become a telling measure of public eagerness to punish the press. According to Stanford University Law Professor Marc Franklin, since 1976 nearly 85% of 106 major libel verdicts by juries have been defeats for journalist defendants, and almost two dozen involved damage awards of more than $1 million. "Juries are the American people," says Eugene Patterson, editor of the St. Petersburg Times. "They want to punish us." The Supreme Court may share some of the mistrust. Since 1972, it has ruled against journalist defendants in all four libel appeals it has heard...
...after an internal investigation, CBS concluded that the charge of conspiracy was "inappropriate," material supportive of Westmoreland's position had been minimized, and network rules had been violated to give unfair advantage to Westmoreland's accusers. CBS News will defend the program in a $120 million libel suit by Westmoreland scheduled for trial next year...
Tone, even more than the facts, was at issue in the suit against the Washington Post by Mobil Executive Tavoulareas. U.S. District Judge Oliver Gasch, who tried the case, ruled that Tavoulareas had not met the legal standards for proof of libel, and overturned the jury verdict. But he added, "The article falls far short of being a model of fair, unbiased journalism...