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Journalistic Integrity (Friday, January 20 - 3rd period)

Rita was in a fairly obvious bad mood.

“All right. Today we’ll discuss libel.” She consulted her roster and chose a name at random. “All right, so let’s say I write an article saying that Alex is a wonderful boy who is sweet and kind and simply a delight to be around. But Alex did not appreciate this. Would this be considered libel, or poetic license? I did mean it in the nicest way, and it’s not an outright lie.”

She waved impatiently. “Discuss.”

[~~WAIT FOR MY OCD OMG.~~ OCD THREADS UP YAYS.]

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...

Veronica signs in

Callisto signed in.

Krycek signed in, again cheered to see Rita not in high spirits.

Barbossa signed in.

Kara signs in.

Alanna signs in.

Chloe signs in.

After grabbing a shower in Angel's room, Logan showed up to class and signed in, hair still damp and wearing the clothes from the previous day.

Janet signed in ~~awfully damn late, I know.~~

...

"I think that's a bad example," Veronica says. "I don't know anyone who is going to be mad if you say something nice about them. However, if you said Alex was a horrible, nasty boy who kicked puppies, he might have reason to be angry."

"But I have nothing to back that up," Rita replied. "If he challenged me, I would have no evidence to prove that he kicks puppies. And you'd be surprised as to the number of people who would resent having nice things said about them. Think of the biggest - oh, what is the term...the biggest badass you know. Would he or she like being painted as a kind, sweet person?"

Veronica thinks about Weevil and stifles a giggle. "They might not like it, but it wouldn't damage their reputation the same way as something negative would."

"So let's imagine that this 'badass' of yours is attempting to posture at someone else. Very alpha male, all of that. And then the person being challenged begins to mock the badass about how they're weak," Rita proposed. "I can't imagine that really does wonders for their reputation."

[And now with the right login, yay]

"But what if their well-being depended on that reputation?" Krycek's tone was mild, but he seemed vaguely annoyed.

"If this was the biggest badass, they shouldn't be affected by the writings of one person. Isn't there a saying here, actions speak louder than words?"

"Because if you let one person get away with trashing your reputation, before too long everyone will be doing it."

"Considering it's a false publication, that damages his reputation and leaves him open to public contempt? Yes, it is libel."

Callisto's been reading up on this for some strange reason.

"It's subjective. Is there a way it can be disproven?" Rita argued.

"If ye be not meanin' it maliciously, than it be not libel," Barbossa said. "If it be true, it also be not libel. It just be somethin' he be not particularly pleased t' hear."

"What if it's meant maliciously, Mr. Barbossa?" Rita asked. "What if I expressed my opinions that someone is not nice? Unless I damn him or her with something that can be proven, is there anything that can be done?"

"If it be meant maliciously, wit' the intent t' ruin a person's reputation, and it be printed where more than one person can be seein' it, then ye might be in a spot o' trouble, Professor." Barbossa scratched at his beard. "But it be a damned hard thing t' prove."

Alanna shrugged. "I'm of the opinion that 'you can't please' everyone. Every time you open your mouth, you annoy at least one person."

"I'm pretty sure that would only be libel if Alex got into trouble for what you said, or if he was upset about it. If he was applying to be an evil ~~alien clone assassin~~ overlord, yeah, that would be libelous, because it would put his chances of employment into danger."

"If it's not true, it shouldn't be printed," Logan said. "There's stuff that sounds good when you see it in print, but it can still twist up the lives of the people you're writing about."

Janet raised an eyebrow, then glanced at Krycek. She didn't grin. Barely. "Libel has to be malicious as well as untrue, doesn't it? Though I don't think writing something you know Alex might not approve of is exactly considered a good thing to do."

Janet really had to stop signing up for any courses about ethics. They were never going to be taught by anyone who was actually ethical, were they? At least this teacher wasn't trying to run psych profiles on all her students.

...

Gah. Wrong class. Sorry. Work breaks brains.

*pats*

101/201 will be up in a second, omg.

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Journalistic Integrity (Friday, January 20 - 3rd period)

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Discussion - Libel?

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After Class

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