Legal Issues in Journalism新聞業(yè)中的法律問題

1、.By Caralyn Greif and Gina Guarini.Defamation: communication of false statements about a person that injure the reputation of or deter others from associating with that person Libel: to publish in print (including pictures), writing or broadcast through radio, television or film, an untruth about an

2、other which will do harm to that person or his/her reputationProof of Malice: In a Libel/Defamation lawsuit, one must provide actual proof that the intention of the statement was to be harmful“Libel per se”: involves statements so vicious that malice is assumed and does not require a proof of intent

3、 to get an award of general damages“Public Figure”: The rules covering libel against a public figure (particularly a political or governmental person) are special, based on U. S. Supreme Court decisions. The key is that to uphold the right to express opinions or fair comment on public figures, the l

4、ibel must be malicious to constitute grounds for a lawsuit for damages. .Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petitio

5、n the Government for a redress of grievances.Landmark Case:In 1960 the New York Times publishes a fundraising advertisement for the civil rights movement called “Heed Their Rising Voices”. The ad contained several minor errors of fact L.B. Sullivan, one of three city Commissioners in Montgomery, Ala

6、bama, becomes aware of the ad. He sues the New York Times for libel, claiming that the ad refers to him because he oversees the Montgomery police department which was mentioned in the ad. The jury grants him damages of half a million dollars; the New York Times appeals to the Supreme Court. .The Cou

7、rt ruled that public officials wishing to prevail in libel actions have the burden of proving that defamatory was published with actual maliceSubstantially extended First Amendment protection for those writing a publishing stories about public officialsSome argue that if the Supreme Court ruled in f

8、avor of Sullivan, it would have significantly censored the press.Associated Press v. Walker (1967)The trial court rejected the defenses new trial motion based on New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, holding that decision inapplicable to one like petitioner not a public official. It also held the evidence

9、 amply supported the conclusion that the magazine had acted in reckless disregard of whether the article was false or not. Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts (1967)Under the Times rule it was clear that Walker had not proven malice, and that the Butts case showed a degree of reckless disregard for the t

10、ruth.Gertz v. Welsh (1974) The principal issue in this case is whether a newspaper or broadcaster that publishes defamatory falsehoods about an individual who is neither a public official nor a public figure may claim a constitutional privilege against liability for the injury inflicted by those sta

11、tements. In the absence of a showing of actual malice, private plaintiffs are limited by the First Amendment-at least with respect to comments about a matter of public concern- to recovery only for actual damages, and not for punitive or presumed damages.Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell (1988)The S

12、upreme Court ruled unanimously that the jury award violated the First Amendment. The Court saw no principled standard for separating the Hustler ad from, for example, hard-hitting political cartoons. .High School principal removed information from paper, claiming it didnt protect students identities

13、 well enoughSupreme Court decided that public school officials may impose some limits on what appears in school-sponsored student publicationsNewspapers that have not been established as student expression forums are subject to a lower level of First Amendment protection than independent student exp

14、ression or newspapersPaper was not considered a “public forum”School officials may censor papers for an educational purpose.Actual Malice Standard: inconsistent and flawed interpretation and application. Heavy reliance on the Supreme Courts interpretationMany publications fear being sued for libel/d

15、efamation and therefore avoid topics that require investigation or controversyLawyers becoming highly involved with editing processResult: forces us to spend a good deal of time looking at how journalism is made.Promotion of irresponsible journalismthe publics interpretation of journalism as sloppy.

16、 .Absence of MaliceTagline: “Suppose you picked up the morning newspaper and your life was on the front page headline. Everything they said was accurate but none of it was true”Is this ethical?.Subpoenas: commands a person to bring certain evidence, usually documents or papers to court (including in

17、formation obtained from confidential sources).Journalist rights are deliberately one of the foremost rights of the US Constitution. But though journalists are protected under the first amendment, those rights are too open to interpretation. Therefore, additional laws must be put into place. Law that

18、 provides a journalist the right to refuse to testify information and/or the sources of information obtained from newsgathering.Washington Post reports that First Amendment crises like this have been happening like clockwork every 35 yearseach time resulting in the imprisonment of a reportereach tim

19、e sparking a call for a change in the law to protect Journalists.The first state shield law was enacted in . protects identity of sourcesinfo that might lead to the identity of sourcesunpublished info obtained during newsgathering processDOES NOT necessarily protect all online publishers, such as bl

20、oggers, or amateur journalistsDepends on whether case is civil or criminalDOES NOT offer protection to parties of a case.Provides “absolute” protection in civil casesProvides “qualified privilege” in criminal cases (court can still order disclosure of sources or material)DOES NOT include any instanc

21、e in which the reporter conceals that he/she is a reporter from the sourceDOES NOT include any situation in which a reporter is eyewitness to or participant in any act involving violence or property damageWording does suggest protection for amateur and non-traditional journalists, such as bloggers.P

22、rotects only “professional journalists”Book authors specifically excluded from protectionWording of law is unclear for online news publicationDOES NOT include physical evidence, eyewitness accounts or recordings of crimesFL shield law is more qualified privilege, because a court can still force a re

23、porter to reveal info in some cases, civil or criminal.Shield laws apply only if reporter receives a subpoena as part of a Grand Jury proceeding or as part of a criminal investigationDOES NOT give protection for civil casesDOES NOT apply when a criminal defendant seeks information from a reporterCov

24、ers amateurs and non-traditional journalists.Freedom of Information Act (2007)“AN ACT to maintain the free flow of information to the public by providing conditions for the federally compelled disclosure of information by certain persons connected with the news media.”.A court determines by overwhel

25、ming evidence that all other reasonable sources have been exhaustedThe information sought is critical to the investigation or prosecution or defense against the prosecutionThe public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in gathering or disseminating it as news.Broaden

26、 the definition of who is coveredLower the standard of evidence the federal government is required to show before it is allowed to require a journalist to provide testimony or produce documents Lower the standard for how important the information sought needs to be to the successful completion of the case in which the information sought. .Privacy Protection Act (PPA) (1980)Prohibits government of