Law Provisions for Journalists Facing Defamation Cases

Americans were known to daily purchase these papers for a penny apiece just to satisfy their hungry curiosities. However, the journalists of these penny papers, in hopes of increasing their paper sales, would frequently exaggerate or sensationalize actual incidents of murder or robbery to the point where they bore little or no resemblance to the real-life occurrences they initially observed. A simple accident, for example, would be spotlighted as a foiled attempt at a brutal murder, and a single murder would often be written up as a gruesome massacre. The more outlandish these articles became, the more likely Americans were to purchase them. The demand for sensationalism became so popular among the American people, in fact, that many journalists often resorted to creating completely exaggerated stories of common everyday people when they ran out of actual crime related incidents about which to to exaggera... ... middle of paper ... ... to ridiculously invent a sensational crime where there clearly is no crime, Poe may very well be suggesting that the penny press reporters of the nineteenth century were not to be trusted because they, too, were nothing more than outright liars about common everyday incidents.

In the Boston Globe article, Emmet Hayes was accused of making his fortune through insider trading involving companies such as Tyco, Enron, and Worldcom. The accusation of this type of scandal could ruin the election for his wife, Shannon O’Brien, for governor as well as jeopardize his own career. His motives for bringing this case to court are very strong. At court Hayes’ lawyers can prove that the Globe performed an act of defamation, the act of “wrongfully hurting a person’s good reputation.” By printing his name in the newspaper, his career is now jeopardized due to his lack of credibility and potential illegal activity. By breeching this type of defamation, the Globe may also face charges arising from the tort of libel which entails false, defamatory written remarks.

Firstly what was said is true, secondly there was a duty to provide information, and lastly it was an expression of an opinion. The law of defamation theoretically should defend a good name of the people from unfair attack but practically that means that it has to hold back the freedom of speech to protect famous and powerful people from scrutiny. Here is another example where the inference between two essential rights: freedom of expression and protection of reputation. In Reynolds v Times Newspapers Ltd Lord Nicholls said: “...a libellous statement of fact made in the course of political discussion is free from liability if published in good faith. Liability arises only if the writer knew the statement was not true or if he made the statement recklessly, not caring wheth... ... middle of paper ... ...ne-hacking-kelly-hoppen [accessed 18/01/12] Ferdinand v MGN Ltd [2011] EWHC 2454 (QB) Campbell v. MGN Limited [2004] UKHL 22 Hrea.org, Human Rights Education Associates, Freedom of Expression, http://www.hrea.org/index.php?doc_id=408 [accessed on 16/01/12] Reynolds v Times Newspapers Ltd [2001] 2 AC 127, 203-204 Reynolds v Times Newspapers Ltd [2001] 2 AC 127, 203-204 Campbell v. MGN Limited [2004] UKHL 22 Data Protection Act 1998, Legislation.gov.uk, http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/29/contents [accessed on 17/01/12] Thomson Reuters, Defamation, Libel, and Slander: Background, Find Law, http://injury.findlaw.com/defamation-libel-slander/defamation-libel-slander-background.html [accessed on 16/01/12] Hrea.org, Human Rights Education Associates, Freedom of Expression, http://www.hrea.org/index.php?doc_id=408 [accessed on 16/01/12]

When the right has control of it, government IS the problem, as in starting illegal wars, illegal wiretapping (Judge just ruled on that one yesterday), massive theft from the middle and lower classes in favor of the super-rich, Guys who tout Family Values having gay sex in airports, ... ... middle of paper ... ...machine disguised as a news station. That makes you a Republican. Hell, if I were a conservative, I would be mad as hell! Not at the liberals and moderates, who after all have only been pushing for the things that liberals and moderates always push for, but at the conservative "leaders" who have betrayed the very essence of conservatism. I would be angry as hell at the Glenn Becks and Rush Limbaughs of the world who cynically manipulate both their listeners and their party for monetary gain, and for fame.

They are there to summarize events and emotions through the lens .23 It's a lot of money when one considers that hundreds of photojournalists struggle to find jobs that average around $20,000 a year. Maybe a little more money could keep the press more focused on what is news?24 Not every news event is pleasant. There are times when people don't want to be photographed. Fires, car accidents, shootings--they are not pleasant, but they are news. I have discussed what celebrity stalking is, why we should have harsher laws against stalking, and what the difference is between photojournalism and the paparazzi.

Whether it likes it or not, the public knows more about famous people than about many political issues (Wright S. 2008). Famous people are being stalked all over and their stories are worth millions of Rands. Media create the profiles of famous people either by exaggeration, opinions or by false statement. Media invasion on private homes and their negative portrayal of famous people all adds up to their breakdowns. This essay will discuss the unfair treatment received by famous people from the media.

Defamation, which is the generic name for the torts of slander and libel, is an area of tort which has two names according to Stanton. He says that the initial purpose of this is to suggest a solution in case a person’s reputation is under attack. This specific law has been created to protect a person’s reputation from being tarnished. This law of tort suggest to us of how to protect against the promulgation of fallacious matters in contrast to illegitimate disclosure of long ago overlooked truths or the violation of a person’s private life. The second purpose of tort law is to safeguard the freedom of speech hitherto he power of the press to scrutinize into a matter and to take the audience awareness to unprofessionalism.

Everyone thought MP3.com was becoming a giant in the music world, just like Micr... ... middle of paper ... ...utive director, Hilary Rosen, for planning an influential financial lawsuit against MP3.com to demolish their stock value. MP3.com’s lawsuit proclaimed that that the RIAA has been committing defamation activities by sending letters to artist management companies and showing them an incorrect picture. The RIAA obviously denied the allegations. Rosen stated that RIAA has a clear-cut record of following and enforcing legal uses of the MP3 technology. This leads the thinker astray, should Beam-it be legalized?

Why are these huge corporations donating such large sums of money to the PDFA? Because they know that the PDFA strongly influences our conception of acceptability: Whatever drug the PDFA chooses to attack becomes a taboo, while drugs the PDFA chooses to ignore become a spotless joy. Because of this funding structure, even if the PDFA wanted to criticize the profitable drugs, it couldn't. Former Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics Matters Mathea Falco explains, It would be suicidal if the Pa... ... middle of paper ... ...s, One of the reasons young people have no faith in what we say about drugs is because of the lies by people like the Partnership. (St. Petersburg Times, 1990) Corporations are making big bucks and children are dying.

The investors were made to believe they would get huge profits. However the scheme collapsed and investors paid millions of dollars to Charles Ponzi. History only repeats itself. Therefore, Ponzi schemes work in typically the same way, but are even more complex today. Solely, the scheme is based on promis... ... middle of paper ... ...may have never been warned early on which is important in order to convict a perpetrator.