Dawn wrote her newspaper article about the local bank CEO's alleged transgressions without the final approval from her editor. Days later, it was proven that the allegations of transgressions were false. Now, three weeks after the fact, she and her newspaper are being sued by the CEO. Dawn is very surprised to know that the words in her article may not be protected by the First Amendment. Why should she NOT be surprised?

Question

Rebekah Harmon

Social Studies

24 March, 19:51

Dawn wrote her newspaper article about the local bank CEO's alleged transgressions without the final approval from her editor. Days later, it was proven that the allegations of transgressions were false. Now, three weeks after the fact, she and her newspaper are being sued by the CEO. Dawn is very surprised to know that the words in her article may not be protected by the First Amendment. Why should she NOT be surprised?

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Answers (1)

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Jimena Carson · Answer 1

Defamation is not protected by the First Amendment

Explanation:

Defamation is not protected by the First Amendment. When defamation occurs in speech it is referred to as slander and when in print it is called libel as was the case in Dawn's issue. Defamation does not count as free speech but, defining what defamation is can get tricky. Defamation is actually a lie that can harm a person's reputation. Not necessarily all statements can harm a person's reputation count as defamation. Most importantly, the statement has to be a deliberate misrepresentation of the facts to be defamatory. Dawn actually was spreading a lie which she did not verify in the first place. Merely expressing a negative opinion about that same individual's character and temperament, however, would not count as defamation since such opinions are not being presented as facts.