Defamation

"To be a journalist is to publish - that's what we do."

In publishing you have to aware of so many different laws & today I am going to write about one of three most important laws for a journalist to know inside and out - defamation.

Defamation is a false accusation of an offense or a malicious misrepresentation of someone's words or actions. Everyone has the right to their reputation, defamatory statements could take this from them.

Under the catergory of defmation is slander and libel; slander being defaming someone in a non-permanent form such as a spoken statement which isn't recorded, libel being defaming someone in a permanent form such as broadcasting a statement on a radio station, television or in a newspaper.

Libel requires:

• The statement is defamatory
• It has been 'published' to a third party i.e. a letter or comment on the internet
• That particular identified person has been defamed 

A defamatory statement is anything that causes any of the following:

• Exposes them to hatred, ridicule or contempt
• Causes them to be shunned or avoided
• Discredits them in their trade, business or profession
• Generally lowers them in the eyes of the right-thinking public 

If you get sued for libel. it has to the potential to destroy you and whoever you work for. You have the potential to kill that publication stone dead so it is vital you check everything you write or publish is 100% accurate.

If you libel someone, even if they're dead, you've broken the law - but hopefully you have a very good defence. Remember, being a student is not a defence. A student could say they have no money but the university would have to pay the fine on their behalf.

There are three main defences:

• Justification - the statement is not only believed to be true but is 100% fact. It may be necessary to have witnesses willing to stand in court.
• Fair comment - it's simply comment and not fact, however, it was honestly held with no malice. The Freedom of Speech Act gives journalists a lot of scope to say hurtful or controversial things as long as it is made clear that it is only COMMENT and not FACT. For example, "Thomas Jones is ugly" is presented as fact, even if it is opinion - "I think Thomas Jones is ugly" is comment as 'I think' is in it.
• Absolute privilege and qualified privilege - it's fair, accurate and contemporaneous. In certain cases, public interest demands that there should be complete freedom of speech without any risk of proceedings for defamation, even when statements are defamatory and turn out to be untrue. Absolute privilege is the complete answer and bar to any action of defamation. It doesn't matter whether the statement is true, untrue, malicious or not.