Saturday, January 13, 2018

Revising Legal Standards for Defamation in Journalism

Libel laws should be changed. There should be tort liability of news organizations if they violate their own Code of Ethics. One of the most important is to provide two sides of the story. Such a new standard would imply, the profession is regulating itself, and not the government, perhaps in violation of the Freedom of the Press Clause.

Once any violation is proven, the liability should be automatic. The sole dispute in court should be about the value of the damages. The actual malice standard of the NY Times case should result in exemplary damages (triple actual damages). To deter.

This would be an elegant way to redefine defamation, to deter fake news, and to compensate the victims of journalism.

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