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Gertz v. Welch
22
Gertz v. Welch a Libel Case
$1.25
Tuesday, June 25, 1974
Vol XCIII, No. 311
What did the Court Have to say?
The courts ruling
What Caused this case?
Gertz sued welch for libel after the article came out. Welch responded by saying that gertz he did not make a specific calim for damages when that fell through he claimed that Gertz was a public figure. The court again ruled against his and said that lawyers are considered public figures. The court ruled in favor of Gertz and he was awarded a sum of $50,000.
A little Background Info.
will it have a domino affect?
How it has affected journalism
The magazine company American Opinion owned by Robert Welch, published a story about Elmer Gertz. This story was about the murder case that Gertz a renowned lawyer was involved in. This case allowed Gertz to put an officer behind bars for murder. The story stated that Gertz was involved in a conspiracy to get rid of police so that a communist form of government could take root, it also stated that Gertz had police files. This article was completely false, because the managing editor did not fact-check the story.
Today when someone goes to court for libel and slander, there is a clear cut line as to what a public figure is and what a public figure is not. so this case allowed courts to find a formula of sorts to identify if the person is in fact a public figure. This has helped fair and right rulings be possible.
In Journalism, There has always been a tension between getting it first and getting it right.
~Ellen Goodman
My Sources
Opinions, Opinions...
works cited
my opinion on this case
http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=OVIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&display-query=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Reference&limiter=&u=j021901003&currPage=&disableHighlighting=fa
I believe that this case was
a pioneer of sorts for the
court system today. Before
this case people could of
not gotten fair treatment
because they were falsely
considered a public figure.
Also i think it was a wake up
call for the courts and justice
system to make an end to
the problem.