Libel Cases in Magazines Defend Integrity

Libel is clearly a cardinal sin in the journalism world. With more and more news corporations striving to uphold their integrity, printing libelous articles and stories is something that is unaffordable on all levels.

For most people, newspapers are thought of to be the most prominent form of print that is meticulously prosecuted for libelous material, but I have found two magazine cases that serve as examples of different levels of cases that are brought before a court of law.

Elin Nordegren Woods, Tiger Woods’ wife, came out victorious in a libel suit against The Dubliner magazine in 2007. While her and her husband were on tour in Ireland, the magazine published a photograph of a nude woman incorrectly identified as Woods, and stated that other photographs similar to the aforementioned could be found on numerous other pornographic sites.

Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t you think that if someone is going to publish a NUDE photograph of another individual, especially a female, that they would have checked out their sources? The Dubliner sounds like a quite prestigious magazine to me, and the mere publication of pornographic material seems kind of extreme to me, especially if you claim that it’s Tiger Woods’ wife. Needless to say, she was rewarded 125 thousand pounds, with an extensive apology from the magazine. But seriously, why would someone even publish that?

However, as we all know, not all libel suits prove to be successful for the citizen, as it was with the case of professional surfer Craig Elmer “Owl” Chapman and The Surfer’s Journal.

Chapman’s attorney claimed that a profile of the surfer depicted him as “a grandiose egotist who is mean-spirited, self-serving, full of braggadocio, impossibly arrogant and in the end, a degenerate, pathetic and drug-addled social outcast,” according to the lawsuit. However, Chapman’s case was turn on its head, and a panel of eight jurors stated that the article was not libelous, based on quotes from Chapman’s peers featured in the article and the fact that he was a public figure. Sucks for him that word got out that he’s a jerk.

Libel is a dangerous thing, but what we as upcoming journalists have to remember is that our first obligation is to the truth, and we should never be afraid of publishing it. It someone is acting in a scandalous manner, stealing from government funds, or what have you, the people need to know. But in order for journalism organizations to maintain their integrity, they have to know the difference between fact and smut. Everything always needs to be double-checked. And like they say, if your mother says she loves you, check it out.