In 2007, the Rutgers women's basketball team made the final four and was on their way to play Duke University in the national title game. Needless to say their success on the court brought attention in a very public eye. Unfortunately, their emergence to the spotlight was not well received by all. Don Imus, a former radio personality scrutinized the young athletes with tasteless remarks on air. He referred to the young women as "nappy headed hoes" and "jiggaboos" throughout the broadcast. He later even compares them to professional men's basketball teams. It is safe to say on top of his immediate termination from MSNBC he faced defamation, slander, and libel lawsuits from players and the university (Setrakian, 2007). This particular case of defamation was the perfect example of how defamation terms can be interchangeable in a court of law as well become muddled even when the differences are clearly cut in legislature. Yes, the statements were false and inflammatory, and certainly caused damage to the subject of the statements, as well as were made to a third party, which are all components of a valid defamatory statement. However, to an unfamiliar eye, it could still remain unclear as to why he was brought up on all three charges. It is understandable that the components of defamation, slander and libel can be viewed as rectangles and squares. As a square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not a square, libel can be considered as slander, if libel is the primary accusation, but slander is not necessarily libel without the presence of a published defaming statement.
The evolution of defamation law, in the context of the emergence of libel and slander, as facets, has converged in relation to differentiating them in a courtroom. According to John D. Zelezney's Communications Law, libel is defined as written defamation while slander refers to spoken defamation (Zelezney, 2011).
These false attacks are done through either libel or slander. ... Slander is the type of defamation that you hear. ... Once a statement is acknowledged, the identification of the person being attacked needs to be clearly recognized and broadcasted, either through libel or slander. ... The cyber law has many loopholes. ... Libel law on the Internet is assumed. ...
In the 1920's the government began passing regulatory laws and set up the Federal Communications Communion to monitor the broadcast media. Over the years, new laws have been passed and repealed, both in favor and in opposition of the media. ... Today the terms slander and libel have been created to combat yellow journalism. ... Because of the Atlanta Georgian and the Houston Press the government passed labor laws and forced factories to improve working conditions and wages. ... The media has also added federal commissions, libel and slander laws, the War Powers Resolution, labor laws and...
Among the obscenity category, are listed: "fighting words", Libel and Slander. ... Slander is the public utterance or speech that holds a person up for contempt, ridicule or hatred. Libel is a published false hood's that can injure a person's reputation or give question for their character. ... Speech of such that can immediately affect the person or their character is said to be slander. Slander is illegal, it violates the rights of the victim (or the one slandered) and so is void as an item of free speech. ...
Because of potential counter claims, the cost of prosecuting a law suit, proving actual malice and falsity of the statements that are being questioned, athletes rarely file defamation claims against the media. ... Professional athletes are the subject of increasing media attention. ... Defamation can be slander, which is made with spoken words, sounds, sign language, or gestures. Defamation in any other form, like in printed words or pictures, is libel. ... Their studies show that the media, especially social media, can be beneficial and also detrimental. ...
Examples of the second types of speech are obscenities, slander, libel, and "fighting words". ... However, this argument has not achieved status as a law. ... Although libel and slander can be obscene and can provoke anger like "fighting words", that is not why they were declared "worthless" in Chaplinsky. ... Libel is printed defamation, and slander is the spoken form. According to Freedom of Speech in the United States before modern broadcasting, libel was considered the more serious offense because slander could not be widely distributed among people. ...
STATE LIBEL LAW DISSES NEW YORK TIMES: TOP COP WINS The mighty have fallen! ... Alabama civil law concerning libels states that a publication is "libelous per se" if the words "tend to injure a person in his reputation" or "ring [him] into public contempt. ... At the outset, both the Alabama law and the Sedition Act of 1798 dealt with the right (or lack thereof) to criticize the government and public officials in the print media. ... The 1798 Sedition Act deals with such right as an issue of criminal law; Alabama law, as applied in the Sullivan case, dealt with the right to publish sta...
One restriction is no person has the right to libel or slander one another. The law prohibits the use of obscene words, the printing and distributing of obscene materials, and false advertising. ... Overall in the world America does have the most relaxed laws on freedom of expression. ...
