Word: libellant
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...lore and craft about U.S. newspapers to qualify the reader for a diploma from the Annenberg School of Communication at Penn. Around a wheezing plot about a young investigative reporter trying to get the Big Story (a U.S. Congressman turns out to be-gasp!-corrupt), Ryan writes knowledgeably about libel law, newsroom computerization, labor disputes, inheritance taxes and galleys of other forces threatening to turn American newspapers into bland copies of one another...
...News executives, who have been beleaguered by budget cuts, controversy over a shift toward featurish news, and some highly publicized libel suits, were suddenly buoyant. They predicted that viewers would opt for the "stability" of Rather's broadcast. CBS is a little worried, however, about competition from PBS's MacNeil/Lehrer Report, which will expand to an hour on Sept. 5 and will run opposite network news in many cities. Said a CBS official: "Right now, we have the pointy-headed intellectuals and Volvo drivers. But if MacNeil/Lehrer starts doing better, more graphic television, it may win some...
Before the trial, Rather complained that the case, coming in tandem with a $120 million libel suit filed against CBS by General William Westmoreland, could have a chilling effect on investigative reporting. Said he: "In five years, maybe nobody will do this kind of story...
That $120 million libel suit by General William Westmoreland against CBS and Mike Wallace might well turn into an acrimonious debate about how the Viet Nam War was lost and why. "There is no way left for me," said Westmoreland in suing "to clear my name, my honor and the honor of the military." However a court later decides, any viewer who saw the CBS broadcast in January 1982 probably remembers most vividly a nervous Westmoreland-under tough questioning by Wallace-squirming, licking his lips, answering falteringly. The lesson: never go on camera with Mike Wallace unless you are well...
When Mobil Corp. President William Tavoulareas won a $2.05 million libel judgment last year against the Washington Post, attorneys for the newspaper predicted that the jury's finding would be set aside by the judge who tried the case. They were right: last week Federal District Judge Oliver Gasch threw out the verdict. Tavoulareas is a "public figure," Gasch ruled, and thus was required to prove that the Post knew its story was false or showed reckless disregard for its accuracy. Said Gasch: "There is no evidence that the editors responsible for the article ever doubted its truthfulness...