Mcnae's essential law for Journalists. Defamation

What is Defamation?
Defamation is one of the most common causes for action to be taken against a journalist therefore it is important for me to be aware of it and well informed about it. When something is printed about somebody that may damage their reputation in the mind of right thinking members of society, this is defamation. It must be seen to lower peoples estimations of the person in question, it must be published to a third party and the person must be clearly identified. Defamation can lead to people being shunned from society or avoided, it can discredit people in their trade or profession and it can expose people to ridicule and even hatred.

So how are any negative newspaper stories ever published?
Defamation is not always illegal. In many circumstances, defamation is in the public interest and needs to be reported. For example if a newspaper was to report that a public figure was sent to prison for murder, it would be damaging his reputation, however if it was true and can be proved, this is called justification. A journalist can still be sued if the story is true, this is why it is important to always have absolute empirical evidence for anything written. Privilege is another defence for journalists, if the news is in the interest of the public, this is slightly more risky however as it is often hard to tell what is and what isn't in the public interest. If a Journalist is reporting from court and he is seen to defame somebody (factually) then he has what is known as absolute privilege, complete protection from legal action.

In a newspaper, the whole article needs to be taken into consideration. For example if a headline says something that could be considered defamatory, but the article underneath explains that in actual fact it is not, that would be acceptable. This is known as Bane and antidote. It is important that the antidote is sufficient in explaining the bane.

If a Journalist was to defame somebody without justification, it is possible that they could correct it to appease the victim. They can include a correction in the newspaper stating that what they said was incorrect and often apologising. (This will be small, near the back of the newspaper and will rarely get seen.)

Purposefully saying something in order to damage a reputation or something that you know to be untrue is known as malice. This is illegal and should be avoided at all costs in journalism.