Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Libel

By Joan Whetzel

Everybody loves to read the latest gossip about people in the public eye, or the juicy details about companies and government agencies that screw up (the latest IRS scandal is a great example). For writers, these types of stories make for great paydays. But they can also make for some great "libel" headaches too, if those writers aren't careful, that is. It's worth the effort to find out the rules of libel law before writing about people, governments, and companies in the news.

Libel vs. Slander

Both libel and slander are ways of defaming another person, ruining their reputation, or harming their integrity to the point that their social standing is permanently marred, or the person loses their job, or to where the person finds it impossible to work or live in the area that they have been living. The difference between slander and libel is that slander is communicated through the spoken word or gestures and libel is communicated through the published word, photographic format, or broadcast.

Conditions that Must Exist for Libel

For libel to be found, these conditions must exist: 

·                     The person must have been exposed to hate, disrespect, contempt, ridicule, or financial loss as a result of the defamation.

·                     The defamation must have directly affected that person’s reputation.

·                     The libelous words must have been made public or disclosed to someone other than the person about whom they were written.

What Is Considered Libel?

Libelous words are those considered damaging to another's reputation or character, or that provide justification for a lawsuit, including:

• falsely accusing someone of an offense or crime;
• maliciously lying about another person's words or actions;
• false  statements of fact;
• or defaming a company's goods or services (trade libel).

Some statements may be considered offensive but not libelous. These statements are made for their shock value. The courts will take the full context of the published statement into account, as well as the circumstances surrounding the event, before making a ruling whether a published statement is in fact libel.

Libel and Writers’ Privileges

Where potentially libelous statements are concerned, writers have a few privileges that could help protect from lawsuits under some circumstances.

1. Opinion. These statements cannot be established as true or false, so they ate  not capable of being defamatory.   Stating that you think a public figure is doing something illegal or immoral clearly shows that you are stating your opinion and not, so no proof is required to back it up.
2. Fair Comment and Criticism.  This one gives writers the right to make observations or criticisms on topics or issues of public interest, as long as the observations and criticisms are done honestly and fairly or without malicious intent.
3. Fair Reporting. This one involves reporting on public proceedings with substantial accuracy and fairness.
4. Neutral Reportage. Here, the writer gives a "true and impartial" report of what happened, presenting both sides of the story, or simply showing what happened with interjecting his or her opinion.

Defenses Against Libel Charges

The truth (backed by proof) is the absolute protection against libel lawsuits. Making negative statements against the deceased is legally protected in most states because the deceased have no reputation to sully. The person suing a writer for libel must prove fault on the part of the writer, and the writer doesn't have to defend the libel charges if the person suing doesn't prove fault.

Public Figure or Private Citizen

Finally, writers have to keep in mind whether the person they're writing about is a public or private citizen. Public figures will have a harder time proving libel because they have put their lives out there on public display. The level of proof that libel has occurred is, therefore, much higher. Private citizens, though, only have to prove negligence on the part of the writer. In other words, they only have to show that the writer did not take reasonable care when writing about the private citizen, and that the writer's statements were false and defamatory because they were made about private matters.

With these rules in mind, no writer should be caught making libelous statements about anyone. Given these parameters, any writer can write some juicy gossip or run negative news stories without being threatened by a lawsuit.