1. According to the Supreme Court, every person has essential dignity and worth, and therefore should be able to pursue a claim for wrongful injury to what? 

- To a person’s reputation, also known as defamation. 

2. In modern libel litigation, what can be as threatening and burdensome for the media as actually paying damages for harm to reputation? 

Bad publicity, considerable time and hassle, and significant lawyers’ fees that frequently accompany a defamation lawsuit.  Costs of defending in court may run hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions, of dollars. 

4. List the six elements that a plaintiff must prove in order to win a libel lawsuit. 

1. Defamatory content 4. Identification

2. Falsity 5. Fault

3. Publication 6. Harm

5. Defamatory content has the potential to inflict what? 

Defamatory content has the potential to inflict injury to the reputation among some respectable segments of society. Usually these statements question an individual’s honesty, integrity, professional competence, sanity, solvency, morality, or social refinement. 

6. What right does a deceased person have to bring a libel lawsuit?

7. Why is "rhetorical hyperbole" generally not considered defamatory?

- Rhetorical hyperbole is emotional, exaggerated name-calling that an audience would not take as fact.

- It is typically not considered defamatory b/c the listener or reader knows the statement doesn’t amount to anything, that they are not to be taken literally. 

8. What is it called when separate published statements are literally true, but, taken together, they leave a false and defamatory impression? 

- This is called libel by implication. 

1. Why is it not technically correct to state that truth is a "defense" to a libel lawsuit? 

The plaintiff must prove that the statement was false.

Which element of libel cannot be established if it is clear that the speaker is expressing a subjective view, an interpretation, a theory, a conjecture, or a surmise, rather than claiming to be in the possession of objectively verifiable facts? 

Falsity, because it cannot be established.

1. Why is the publication element of a libel claim rarely an issue when the mass media are involved?

Because in most libel lawsuits against mass communicators, the statements in question were clearly disseminated to thousands, even millions, of third parties.

1. What is the central rationale that prompted the Supreme Court to hold that a plaintiff must prove some degree of fault in a libel action?

-- Requiring that some fault be shown shifted the balance from a tort in which plaintiffs generally held the upper hand to one in which mass media defendants have the breathing space to make “honest mistakes.”

1. How is actual malice defined?

-- Actual malice means that when the defamatory statements were published, the communicator either (1) knew they were false or (2) published with reckless disregard of truth or falsity -- that is, with serious doubts that the statements were true.

1. How do you define “reckless disregard”?

-- Reckless disregard is publishing something with serious doubts that the information is accurate or true. Reckless disregard might be established if a news story were based wholly on unverified information from an anonymous telephone call or from a caller with a history of unreliability.

1. What does a libel plaintiff seeking to prove negligence on the part of the media typically focus on?

-- Failure to check facts, failure to follow-up with sources, lack of research, etc.

1. What is the key consideration that determines whether a government employee is a public official?

-- Whether or not they are elected.

26. How would you describe “all-purpose” and “vortex” public figures?

• All-purpose public figure = A person who has achieved widespread notoriety and who, as a defamation plaintiff, will always have to show actual malice by the defendant. Ex: TV celebrities, famous athletes (Brett Favre), etc. 
• Vortex public figure = people who voluntarily thrust themselves into the forefront of specific public controversies in an effort to influence the outcome. They have entered the public spotlight, but only within a narrow context. Ex: local candidates for public office, lobbyists, union leaders, etc. 

27. What standards must juries follow in determining the dollar value of injury to reputation in a libel case? 

• There are no solid standards for ascertaining the dollar value of a plaintiff’s injured reputation, so juries have great latitude in awarding compensatory damages. (pg. 146)

28. What is the key policy reason supporting the “fair report” (or “public record”) privilege against libel claims? 

• The Fair Report privilege is set up so news media can report fairly and accurately what is said in official government proceedings. It is based on the public’s right in a democratic society to be informed of what’s going on with the government. 

29. What are two conditions that must be satisfied for the fair report privilege to be claimed? 

• 1) The republication or broadcast must be fair. This means that it cannot have selective omission and inclusion  in such a way that makes it seem unbalanced. 
• 2) Selected quotes and paraphrases must be accurate. 

30. To what types of proceedings and records is the fair report privilege limited? 

• Anything that is open to the public, whether that is meetings or documents. 

31. Does the fair report privilege apply to an interview you conduct with a high-ranking public official? 

• No. Interviews with lawyers, police officers or witnesses may not be privileged information. 

32. Briefly describe the “wire service defense.” 

• A media organization is safe from libel if it publishes a story off a wire service without substantial change or without suspecting the content to be false. 

33. What is a retraction? 

• When the media runs a statement that takes back defamatory reports. 
• About 30 states have adopted laws that encourage potential libel plaintiffs to request these statements, to settle cases outside court. 

35. What are the two common categories of Internet defamation? 

• Lawsuits against the originators or primary publishers of libelous content, such as e-mail authors or the creators of website content.
• Lawsuits against the Internet service providers or system operators 

36. Which of these two categories does the Internet bulletin board operator fall into? 

• A system operator. But they are not held accountable for things posted on the bulletin board. 

37. With respect to Internet service providers, what is the principal impact of the 1996 Telecommunications Act? 

• Section 230, which is an absolute immunity for ISPs. It creates immunity to any cause of action that would make service providers liable for information originating with a third party user of the service. 

38. Identify two reasons many authorities on libel law are dissatisfied with how libel claims are addressed in the modern legal system. 

• Even though media defendants ultimately win most libel lawsuits, the costs of the defense can be enormous. Ultimately, people fear that media will steer clear of controversial stories because of the hassle. 
• Secondly, the process can be expensive and wearisome for the plaintiff. Even if a substantial sum is awarded at trial, by the time appeals are completed, the award may do little more than cover the legal expenses.