JOURNALISM AND DEFARMATION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

journalism AND DEFARMATION - Essay ExampleJournalists handle critical stories each day and have to remain on shield each time. Staying on guard will prevent them from getting overwhelmed by the stories and going overboard to push public opinion concerning the stories. Therefore, a journalist will need adequate research from reliable sources in the lead publishing any story. However, it is proving much more difficult for journalists to reserve their opinion especially in the contemporary world whereby there are so many another(prenominal) media forums1. In the recent past, many journalists have tack together themselves in much trouble. For example, the yahoo organization fired one of its chief journalists after making a joke about the Romney campaigns. According to many people, Yahoo took the joke with too much weight thus far the journalists uttered the statement without malice. In other numerous cases, journalists find themselves sued for causing damages on the record of othe rs2. The law classifies such cases as defamation3. However, the law provides defences that journalists can use in such cases4. The first falsification that a journalist can use is justification. Being able to present proof that what the journalist produce concerning a plaintiff is true. This requires journalists to publish information after careful research from reliable sources. Justification whitethorn require the journalist to present a witness in judicial system in order to put out the truth in what he published. Presenting a reliable justification will serve to clear the plaintiffs claims of defamation. If the court establishes that the journalist only said something that is true, then he clears the defendant of the charges5. However, the court does non need the defendant to prove beyond doubt that the statement under investigation is true. The courts consider a lower level that involves presenting acceptable proof that the statements made about the plaintiff are true. Th e challenge for many journalists lies in convincing a witness to testify before a court. Sometimes, these witnesses present information in privacy and decline to appear in the limelight. It is worthy noting that regardless of the fact that the standard of beyond healthy doubt does not apply, a court may expect a high level of contextual truth because it expects journalists to be cautious of the statements they make. The second form of defense occurs in the presence of a assurance indicating that the plaintiff had previously faced a conviction regarding the act mentioned in the statement claimed to be defamatory. However, the court will require substantial evidence of conviction in order to prove that the convictions made give to the statement under investigation. This will require evidence of several instances. For example, making a claim that soul lacks integrity to hold office will require at least two convictions concerning abuse of office6. However, depending on the convicti on and the time elapsed the court may consider the conviction spent. Therefore, a journalist must understand the spending duration of different convictions before drawing conclusions. In other cases, the journalist may use the defence of fair comment and give proof to the court that any individual in such a situation would draw similar situations7. This