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Drummed into the heads of all Journalism 101 students are two important freedom of the press cases.
In 1735, John Peter Zenger, printer of the then New York Weekly Journal was acquitted for libeling the governor.
Zenger’s attorney argued that because the governor was in a position of power affecting the citizens, he could be criticized as long as the criticism was true.
In 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court case New York Times vs. L.B Sullivan established the public figure doctrine we know today. The case determined that public officials must prove “actual malice” (publisher knew something was false or acted with reckless regard for the truth). This gave the press much needed freedom and protection to report the news about public figures.
These cases are necessary to continue our First Amendment right to a Free Press.
But we desperately need a new case for J-School students to ponder.
The Press blatantly has been allowed to lie, cheat and defame public figures just because they disagree with them.
Trump’s $15 billion defamation case against the New York Times could be just that case.
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