Libel - Published or broadcast communication that lowers the reputations of an individual by holding him or her up to contempt, ridicule, or scorn.
In Veronica Guerin, the issue of libel came up when she and her colleagues were discussing the annoyance of having to give each of the criminals in which they were talking about special names. When asked why they had to give them such silly names, Veronica said, "Well I can't use their real names, if I do that, they'll sue me."
In the Mass Media Law text by Pember and Calvert, Libel Law has been broken up into three chapters. Within these chapters lies the foundation of Libel Law, this is ONE of the most important things for a journalist to place into their memory banks.
No matter how guilty a person is, even if you have the evidence to prove that they are responsible for a crime or ANYTHING. If you mention their name in an article without their written consent, you are putting yourself at risk to be sued for libel.
Veronica knew that the men she was investigating were seen as upstanding citizens in the high society of Ireland. She was very aware that if she named any of them, no matter how guilty they were, she could be sued for libeling of them and defamation of character.
Defamation – Any communication that holds a person up to contempt, hatred, ridicule, or scorn and lowers the reputation of the individual defamed.
There also elements of libel that form the foundation of a libel suit, these are the elements that build the foundation for a libel suit.
1. Defamation is a communication that damages the reputation of a person, but not necessarily an individual’s character. Your character is what you are; your reputation is what people think you are.
2. To be actionable defamation, the words must actually damage a reputation. There must be proof offered that the individual’s reputation was harmed. The plaintiff must bring evidence before the court that the allegedly libelous communications lowered her or his reputation among the people in the community. (i.e. A Newspaper, a printed copy of an online publication, community newsletter, etc.)
3. At least a significant minority of the community must believe that the plaintiff’s reputation has been damaged, but the minority must not be an unrepresentative minority. This is an important dimension of the law because it protects the communication from being successfully sued for publishing something about an individual that appears innocent, but is in fact offensive to only a small number of unrepresentative people.
