The Essence of Libel Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Essence of Libel - Essay Example However, proof of malice does not allow a party defamed to sue another person for damages due to reputation. Libel in opposition to the status of a person who died allows surviving family members or friends to the deceased person to bring out an action for damages. As far as the law is concerned, government bodies are considered as resistance to actions for libel on the considering that there are be no intention by non-personal entities and again public records are exempted from libel claims. Nonetheless, there is one known case whereby there was a financial settlement and a published correction when a certain state government incorrectly stated in a newsletter that a certain dentist had been disciplined for conducting himself illegally (Linda & Edwards 390) Rules against libel covering public figures like politicians and government people are special as stated in the U.S Supreme court decisions. The basic thing is that to uphold the right of expressing opinions and fair comments on public figures, the label should be malicious to constitute grounds for a lawsuit for damages. Minor reporting errors are never libelled, for instance, saying that a person was 55 years when he or she is only 48 do not constitute libel (Linda & Stanley 390) The news case discussed in this paper on libel is the High Court ruling that Sally Bercow’s tweet about Lord McAlpine being libellous. This case shows that a person does not just have to explicitly defame another person for it to be considered as libel. The tweet that was taken as offending was: â€Å"Why is Lord McAlpine trending? Innocent face† It was alleged that Lord McAlpine had abused children at a North Wales children’s home in 2013. He issued his denial when he said that he had been named on the internet and social media over claims relating him to an abuse at a Wrexham children's home. However, he refuted the claims saying that he had only visited Wrexham only once, he had never been to the children’s home, and that he had never visited any reform school or any other institution of the same nature.