A Crash Course in Press Law For the High School Press

 YES. Student publications can be sued! School systems and students have been bankrupted fighting litigation.  We can also be wrongfully censored. If you know the law, you protect yourself and free speech.  You have more rights than I do. It will be up to you to defend yourself. I will advocate, but my contract has higher precedent.

 The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution declares that “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.”  The Supreme Court’s “Tinker” decision of 1969 observed that “It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”

 The following forms of speech are illegal. The First Amendment protects neither the professional press nor the student press against these violations of press law:  Time, Place, Manner  Libel  Invasion of Privacy  Copyright Infringement  Obscenity

 The previous quotation was taken from a college journalism text (now in its 7 th edition) called The Complete Reporter. My 6 th edition copy was published by MacMillan in 1992; 7 th editions are published by Allyn and Bacon,  The material in this presentation, paraphrased or quoted, comes from Chapter Five: Ethics and Libel.

 In most cases, a newspaper has the right to publish libelous matter if the libeled person has given consent to its publication.  It is not uncommon for a source to give consent and then change his or her mind after publication.  “A journalist is on much safer ground if it has written consent when potentially libelous statements are involved.”

 “Generally newspapers, simply as a matter of good faith, will not print a libelous attack, even if it is privileged to do so, without giving the attacked person a right to reply in the same article.”  “This helps the newspaper prove that it was not acting maliciously.”

 Most states set a specific time limit in which a plaintiff can file a case of libel. This ranges from one to three years. In the state of Washington the limit is two years.

 Printing a retraction will not nullify a successful plaintiff’s claim for damages against a newspaper, but it may help reduce damages awarded by a court by indicating lack of actual malice.  A retraction sometimes satisfies plaintiffs and causes them to decide to drop their suit.  A retraction should point out, correct, and apologize for the newspaper’s errors. To be effective, it should be given the same space, time, or prominence given to the original story.

 Invading a person’s solitude or private affairs without his or her knowledge or consent.  Often involves the use of spying devices: hidden microphones or recorders, wiretaps, high-powered cameras, or illegal obtainment of a person’s private documents.  A reporter who gains access to a place by misrepresentation, especially on private property, could wrongfully intrude.

 “A newspaper may be guilty of invading privacy when it publishes facts about the private life of a person that would offend ordinary sensibilities and that may cause that person mental suffering or embarrassment.”  “Publishing sensational private matters about a person’s economic, social or sexual activities, for example, could lead to an invasion of privacy suit.”

 “A publication is guilty of invading a person’s privacy if it uses that person’s name, likeness, or personality for advertising or other commercial use.”  This does not apply to news coverage.

 Truth is not normally a defense in invasion of privacy suits. However, there are three standard defenses:  Newsworthiness  Consent  Constitutional Privilege

 “A consent defense requires that the publication show it had the prior consent of the person who is suing.”  Consent is not needed for legitimate news events.  As in libel, consent is not as strong as other defenses.

 Public figures cannot recover damages for a story that may place them in a “false light” unless they can prove the newspaper printed the material knowing it was false or had serious doubts about its truth.  Courts have held that public officials have virtually no right of privacy if the facts relate, even remotely, to their public lives. The same is true for a private individual who unwillingly becomes involved in a public event.

 Something a reasonable person, applying contemporary community standards, would find to appeal to prurient interest, when taken as a whole.

 Work which depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law.

 Work, when taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.