Rereading<i>New York Times v. Sullivan</i>: The Importance of Procedure in Libel Cases

Herbeck, Dale A.

doi:10.1080/08997225.2012.732759

Cited by 1 publication

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“…This atmosphere of official intimidation of the press through libel suits continued for several more decades. In the 1960s, the civil rights movement and the press that gave it sympathetic coverage had to endure both physical and legal threats in the form of intimidating libel suits designed to preserve systemic injustices against racial minorities (Herbeck, 2013; Hopkins, 1989; Lewis, 1991, 1994; Smolla, 1986).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Journalism and activist democratic theory and ethics: When the ‘chilling effects’ of libel can lose effect

Mohamed

2018

Journalism

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We use the events of the civil rights movement of the 1960s as context in exploring deployment of ethical principles associated with activist democratic theory by New York Times editors. The ethical framework helped shape coverage of perceived injustices against minorities and set the tenor of confrontation with public officials. Subscription to activist journalism ethics assumes a lack of fairness in liberal democratic processes that take place within unequal social, economic, and political environments. These media tend to challenge the status quo more vigorously than do other media. A content analysis shows that the Times pursued the civil rights story with an activist zeal that got it entangled in the historic Sullivan libel lawsuit of 1960. The paper did not scale back its tone in challenging the social order in the South – even in the face of physical intimidation of reporters and in spite of the widely assumed ‘chilling effects’ of libel. This suggests that when media cover certain issues in an activist spirit, conventional restraints engendered by fear of libel may lose effect.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Journalism and activist democratic theory and ethics: When the ‘chilling effects’ of libel can lose effect

Mohamed

2018

Journalism

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

RereadingNew York Times v. Sullivan: The Importance of Procedure in Libel Cases

Cited by 1 publication

References 6 publications

Journalism and activist democratic theory and ethics: When the ‘chilling effects’ of libel can lose effect

Journalism and activist democratic theory and ethics: When the ‘chilling effects’ of libel can lose effect

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