In the second part of his series, Richard Ackland looks at how defamation laws could be reshaped to protect public interest journalism, but also why needed reforms are going nowhere fast
• Part one: how Australia’s defamation law stifles public-interest journalism
Geoffrey Rush would have zero chance of securing a successful libel verdict if he sued in the United States over the “inappropriate behaviour” story. The same would apply to the cricketer Chris Gayle and the actor Craig McLachlan.
The first amendment combined with the supreme court’s 1964 landmark case of New York Times v Sullivan means that the bar is set very high for celebrities or public figures who want to sue for defamation. Essentially they have to prove that the publication was actuated by “malice” in the false reporting of a news story.
Continue reading...from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2DU7QGU
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