defamation definition
If you use material that TENDS TO do the following, then it is defamatory:
- expose the person to hatred, ridicule, or contempt
- cause the person to be shunned and avoided
- lower person’s reputation
- belittle the person in their business, trade, office or profession
Unintentional/second hand types of defamation:
- Juxtaposition – putting two unrelated things together that could imply a connection. Wallpaper shots, picture libel.
- Inference – secondary meaning, reading between the lines. Inferring something without saying it straight.
- Innuendo – a statement that can be seen as defamatory by people with special knowledge. For example, ‘I saw __ standing on the corner of Sleep Street’. You wouldn’t think anything of it unless you understood what was being referred to.
Why would the media be reluctant to fight defamation actions?
- Difficult proving the truth of the statement
- Huge damages could be awarded if trial lost
- Generally huge legal costs come with the case
- Better to settle out of court
libel – what is it?
Publication + Defamation + Identification = Libel
**Slander is the spoken version of this – it must be published to be libel, as shown in the simple equation above.
Defences against libel
There have been updates in the Defamation Act 2013 that help us in defending ourselves against libel.
- Serious harm – A statement is not defamatory unless its publication has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to the reputation.
- It’s true and I can prove it – formerly ‘justification’. The statement needs to be ‘substantially true’.
- Honest opinion – formerly ‘fair comment’, based on facts which existed at the time, no malice.
- Public interest – if it is of value to the public to know.
- Website – If it’s published on a website it cannot be shown who directly published it.
- Absolute privilege – Court reports, as long as they’re FAIR, ACCURATE, AND CONTEMPORANEOUS.
- Qualified privilege – Council meetings, public meetings, police statements, press conferences.
- Single publication rule – limitation of one year to bring an action from first publication.
- Bane and antidote – if the whole context of the article changed the meaning.
You have NO defence if you haven’t: checked your facts, referred up, put yourself in the person’s shoes, bothered to wait for lawyer’s opinion.
cases
McAlpine vs BBC – Newsnight broadcast a report on child abuse and Mc Alpine was wrongly identified online. Sally Bercow tweeted ‘Why is Lord McAlpine trending. *innocent face*.’, wrongly linking him to the sex abuse claims – INNUENDO.
Chris Jefferies – Eight newspapers paid substantial libel damages. He was arrested on suspicion of Joana Yeates’s murder, and the papers published defamatory articles with allegations against him.
McLibel – 10 year case on a pamphlet made by environmental activists critical of McDonalds. However, it came to light that they should have been protected by Article 10 (freedom of expression), they were then awarded money.
Sun – Four journalists from the Sun have been acquitted over allegations of payments for tips and assistance on army stories.
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