Case Study: B. Gertz In The Social Media Era

The media’s job is to entertain, inform, and educate society on what is going on around the world. The media entertains society by reporting stories that amuse people. The educational function of the media is about allowing society to know their legal rights. The informational aspect of the media does not need to be explained; it is self-explanatory. Within the last three decades, the media’s role has changed dramatically. The media went from using telegraphs, post offices, newspapers, magazines, radio, and television to using cell phones and tablets. In the modern era, which is also sometimes referred to as the information age, global networking and global communication have shaped modern societies. The majority of

The most famous defamation case, which still sets precedent in today's cases, is New York Times v. Sullivan (1964). New York Times v. Sullivan (1964) is the leading case on the question of defamation liability for media defendants. The case, heard before the Supreme Court, declared that public officials and figures could not recover for an alleged defamation unless they can prove both that the statement was false, and was made with actual malice. This decision prevents the news media from reporting on false or slanderous stories. It protects the country's public icons seeing they are almost always in the spotlight. In addition to defamation hindering media, obscenity and pornography on the net have placed limitations on what some websites may provide in terms of content.

Supreme Court Case Sheppard V. Maxwell is the first case in American history to question whether the American right to a fair trial should be interrupted by the American right to freely publish one’s thoughts and opinions. Sheppard’s conviction, brought on by the biased eye of the press, was exonerated. However, concluded from the lack of policy alterations post-trial, the Sheppard V. Maxwell case still informally decided media is no real threat in the court system. Some may say otherwise. Although media may not directly affect court rulings, the press can certainly affect the public’s opinion, which in turn can affect a court case.

The lawsuit’s First Amendment implications are not always understood and appreciated by the public in cases like these. “This sort of robust political debate encouraged by the First Amendment is bound to produce speech that is critical of those who hold public office or those public figures who are intimately involved in the resolution of important public questions, or, by reason of their fame, shape events in areas of concern to society at large” Chief Justice William Rehnquist wrote for the court

Upon reviewing the case, it was determined that publications or broadcasts containing “defamatory falsehoods” pertaining to individuals like Gertz who was not classified as a public official or a public figure are ineligible to receive protection as established by New York Times Co., v. Sullivan from statements, as libelous and defamatory as they may be. Further, it was determined that the publication in American Opinion was of public and general interest (Gertz v. Welch – Justia).

He says, “The classical liberal conceptions of free speech and free press may not be enough to produce a fully informed electorate or to redress the social and economic ills that skew public debate. But as a constitutional matter, they remain the single best defense against overweening state.” He also points out the alternative to private control of speech and the media is state control, which will have a deadly consequence as far as freedom of speech, freedom of press, and the accuracy of the reports are concerned. He concludes his report by saying that the civil liberties and rights may be flawed, but they are our only tool in balancing the powers of the government and the

Initially, in the dismissal of Ann Griffin, from her comment that she “Hated all black folks” it brought about evident items from such speech. These items leading to further discrimination of students stemming off the statement she made. Leading to one of the reasons she was dismissed from her job from the principal. The statement she made was one of public concern as it advocated that she would possibly discriminate. Example of this in Daniels V. Quinn, it is judged that if a teacher makes a statement about public concern, it can viewed

One case shows that how defamation laws protects speech that has no first amendment value. In the Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co. case a United States Supreme Court case rejected the argument that separate opinion privilege existed against libel. The court had referred to the New York Times Co. v. Sullivan and the Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc.

Libel is false, “published or broadcast communication that lowers the reputation of an individual by holding him or her up to contempt, ridicule, or scorn” (Pember, 691). Defamation is a broader, more encompassing term that includes both libel, which is published defamation, and slander, which is spoken defamation. In the case Gregory v. Gregory, plaintiffs Robert, Christopher, and Samuel Gregory sue their brother, W. Patric Gregory III (“Patric Gregory”) for libel. The brothers are in a family business together called New Jersey Galvanizing and Tinning Works, Inc. (“NJG”), where one of the plaintiffs, Robert Gregory, is the president. A few years ago, the plaintiffs were involved in a dispute that did not include the defendant Patric

New York Times v. Sullivan was a landmark case which dictated the outcomes of many subsequent cases. However, after the Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling in favor of the New York Times in 1964, Justice Brennan’s opinion raised just as many—if not more—questions than it had answered. In fact, many justices struggled with how to make sense of the ruling and how it could be applied in both similar and different contexts. While this case was a crucial turning point in the application of First Amendment protection in libel cases, this ruling was by no means an end-all to our understanding of free expression and the protection of it. This was demonstrated in cases concerning private versus public figures, through self-censorship and in the operation

The far reaching circular we now have permits the thriving of first amendment with damages as very much requested society should not allow. Despite the fact that scorn discourse is portrayed by viewed height absolutists as a private demonstration of expression that ought to be shielded from government controls and authorizes. When we comprehend the mischief that contempt discourse may deliver, we are in a superior position to get a handle on the contention for the enactment that confines it.

Presented by Professor Derigan Silver and Libby Pinkerton, A graduate student at the University of Denver, the Seminar on the Supreme Court focuses on the effect of media framing on the legitimacy and power of the court. Framing, defined as “…how something is presented to the audience (called “the frame”) influences the choices people make about how to process that information.”(XXX) is explained to be one of the main ways media alters the way the public perception of an issue or controversial court case. By selectively covering the issue or case being discussed, the media can purposely omit facts or views presented that greatly change the realty of the subject. The main issue with omitting a single or multiple views in favor of emphasizing

The meaning of libel was clarified in other such court cases as Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323 (1974). This case is about the murder of young man by police officer, Mr Nuccio. The victim’s family appointed lawyer Elmer Gertz to represent them in court. The lawyer Gertz was later in an article Robert Welch’s magazine, American Opinion, about communism and how the murder was a setup to try to create a communist government in america and discredit police officers. The article also said falsely that Mr Gertz was a crimminal and that he was a communist. Gertz filed a lawsuit stating that he was wrongly accused of being a communist and that the other statements made in the article were false. He used the court cases of New York Times v Sullivian and the other case Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts to prove his case. The

“publication of statement which tends to lower a person in the estimation of right thinking members of society generally or which makes them shun or avoid that person”

“Defamation is the publication of a statement which reflects on a person’s reputation and tends to lower him in the estimation of right thinking members of the society generally or tends to make them shun or avoid them.”