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StinkyJournalism Media Picks
libel-Listing filtered by Topic
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U.S. Libel Tourism Protection Act Signed into Law, British Activists See Call for Reform
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| by Sydney Smith, StinkyJournalism.org |
August 27, 2010 07:48 am EST
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| U.S. president Barack Obama recently signed a national law to protect from libel rulings abroad. Similar state laws already existed, including in NY, where the law was named for Rachel Ehrenfeld, pictured above in a detail of a screenshot. (Credit: YouTube, cjhsladwm) |
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In mid-August, President Barack Obama signed into law the SPEECH Act. The new law, quickly passed by the House of Representatives and Senate, prevents foreign libel judgments from being upheld in the U.S. if the ruling would conflict with U.S. law.
StinkyJournalism wrote about the SPEECH Act when Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt) and Jeff Sessions (R-Al) introduced the bill to the Senate. It seemingly nullifies libel tourism, the practice of...Go to full story
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Historian and Wife Apologize, Pay Two Authors Defamed in Online "Poison Pen" Reviews
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| by Sydney Smith, StinkyJournalism.org |
August 07, 2010 08:20 am EST
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| Historian Orlando Figes must pay damages and apologize after threatening to sue anyone accusing him of writing damning reviews on Amazon.com. He later admitted to writing them.(Credit: Flickr, Bocko M.) |
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Professor Orlando Figes, the high-profile London historian who earlier this year fessed up to writing defamatory anonymous reviews of competitors' work on Amazon.com, is now paying those competitors a legal settlement. Figes specializes in Russian history.
The New York Times reported July 19 that Figes and his wife will be paying "unspecified damages and legal costs" to authors Rachel Polonsky and Robert Service.
The...Go to full story
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Shirley Sherrod Plans to Sue Blogger Andrew Breitbart for NAACP Story
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| by Sydney Smith, StinkyJournalism.org |
August 05, 2010 07:29 am EST
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| Shirley Sherrod said last week that she plans to sue Andrew Breitbart, the conservative blogger who posted the video that led to her losing her job. Image above is screenshot from Sherrod's full lecture, posted on YouTube at the center of the controversy.
(Credit: NAACP, YouTube) |
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Shirley Sherrod, a former state director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, announced at the National Association of Black Journalists July 29 that she intends to sue Andrew Breitbart, the conservative blogger who first published the video that led to her resignation.
Bloggers started weighing in on what grounds Sherrod could sue as soon as it became clear that the video clip was out of context.
The Backstory...
Now...Go to full story
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UK's Daily Star Apologizes, Pays Damages after Publishing Hoax Story
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| by Sydney Smith, StinkyJournalism.org |
July 30, 2010 06:42 am EST
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| This Daily Star article (since removed from The Star website, but available via screenshot on Destructoid) was based on a hoax. The Daily Star issued an apology, admitting it did not attempt to verify or seek comment from Rockstar Games. (Credit: Destructoid) |
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British newspaper The Daily Star published an apology July 24 for a July 21 hoax it printed about Rockstar Games, the company that makes the Grand Theft Auto video games.
Video gaming website Joystiq wrote July 24 that Rockstar Games' forthcoming game, that turned out to be a hoax, was based on Raoul Moat's July "shooting rampage."
In real life, Moat shot his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend in early July, The Telegraph reported. Seven...Go to full story
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U.S. Libel bill could make some libel tourism rulings void in U.S.
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| by Sydney Smith, StinkyJournalism.org |
June 24, 2010 08:34 am EST
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| Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, pictured in this screenshot from an interview posted on YouTube, is an advocate for the SPEECH Act, which would make void some foreign libel rulings. She was sued for libel in the UK in 2004. |
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Because Britain's libel laws are more friendly to the public than the media, American-based media outlets and writers sometimes find themselves sued for libel in Britain.
But, a bill introduced by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee June 22 might make some foreign defamation rulings unrecognizable in the U.S., RTT News reports.
Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Jeff Sessions (R-AL) introduced the bill, which would protect U.S....Go to full story
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10 Years Later, al-Dura controversy still alive, French media watchdog wins defamation suit
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| by Sydney Smith, StinkyJournalism.org |
June 17, 2010 08:46 am EST
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| Philippe Karsenty, pictured, is the director of a French media watchdog site. He just won a libel suit, which followed his critique of a 2000 France 2 TV video. (Credit: Middle East Quarterly) |
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Another twist has been added to the decade-long debate over the "al-Dura" video broadcast by France 2, a national public television network. French mediia watchdog journalist Philippe Karsenty has won a libel suit following his criticism of the video.
The dramatic video from 2000 sowed the alleged death of a 12-year-old Palestinan boy named Mohammed al-Dura. As Atlantic Monthly wrote in June 2003, the image of al-Dura “shot dead in...Go to full story
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Called not a journalist by NJ Courts, Blogger explains her case
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| by Sydney Smith, StinkyJournalism.org |
May 26, 2010 08:02 am EST
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| Shellee Hale explains to StinkyJournalism why she thinks she should be considered a journalist. A New Jersey appeals court ruled that she was a blogger--not a journalist--and therefore not accorded the same protections.(Credit: Shellee Hale's Twitter) |
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A New Jersey appeals court recently ruled that blogger and investigator Shellee Hale is not a journalist and therefore not protected by state shield laws for journalists. StinkyJournalism wrote about the ruling May 1.
Hale is a private investigator, online life coach and blogger. During her online life-coaching sessions, Hale noticed that she was repeatedly being "cyber-flashed." She decided to investigate. In her investigation,...Go to full story
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Australian Media Controversy: Is outing a gay politician in the public's interest?
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| by Sydney Smith, StinkyJournalism.org |
May 24, 2010 08:54 am EST
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| Australian news station Channel Seven recently exposed politician David Campbell for having visited a gay sex business. (Credit: Australian Broadcasting Corp.) |
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Australian media is currently figuring out the difference between what’s of public interest and what’s interesting.
Australian broadcast news Channel Seven reported this week that MP David Campbell had been seen exiting a male sex business May 18. He had driven himself there in his government-issued car. Channel Seven showed footage of Campbell leaving.
Campbell resigned from his post as minister of transport and...Go to full story
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NJ Supreme Court Rules media can't be sued for accurately reporting pretrial documents
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| by Sydney Smith, StinkyJournalism.org |
May 16, 2010 09:02 am EST
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| The Bergen Record (a screenshot of its logo was taken from its Facebook page) was sued for defamation by Thomas Salzano for publishing information from pretrial court documents. |
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In a split decision, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that media outlets cannot be sued for reporting from pretrial court documents, even if the information turns out to be false, Statehouse Bureau reported May 11.
The ruling overturned a 2008 appeals court ruling, which found The (Bergen County) Record "libelous for its reporting of a lawsuit" in a March 2006 story, The Associated Press reported. The Record ran a story March...Go to full story
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NJ Court rules : Blogger not journalist , new media not news media
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| by Sydney Smith, StinkyJournalism.org |
May 01, 2010 08:17 am EST
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| The NJ Appeals Court just upheld a lawsuit against blogger Shellee Hale for comments she made on another Web site's message board. |
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A New Jersey appeals court upheld a lower court's ruling that a blogger isn't afforded the source protections a traditional journalist is, The New Jersey Law Journal reported. Blogger Shellee Hale lost a lawsuit to Too Much Media, LLC for comments on a Web site's message board about TMM.
The decision created a bit of a stir with some bloggers and online writers, including American Culture, which wrote that the decision is "backward-looking." ...Go to full story
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