Let’s say I own a restaurant. A local news program, over a three-day period, interviews a self-proclaimed expert on restaurants. He contends that I am actually an alien from the planet Rimlom and that all of my employees are also Rimlomians. He alleges that we are tainting our food in a way that will eventually transform our patrons into Rimlomians as well. The station does nothing to discourage that view. I sue the news station and the journalist for defamation. What do you think my chances of success are?
Quite slim, I suppose. In court, I would need to prove that not only has my business deteriorated, but it is because viewers of the program believed the allegations to be true. The court’s thoughts would be “almost nobody is gullible enough to believe that.” Underlying that conclusion is that even if people desperately wanted to believe that I was doing something wrong, this argument is too ludicrous to be taken seriously.
Successful defamation cases often rely on the gullibility of substantial members of the viewing public. These viewers are well-meaning people who, after hearing the allegations, can somehow rationalize how the argument supports their position. Their conclusions do not need to be based on facts. Due to a strong predisposition, facts are only minor irritations that get in the way of the conclusion that the individuals want to believe.
The news station and journalist in my restaurant example will simply continue with business as usual. However, in cases where they see they see potential merit in the defamation case, defendants may take action to minimize damages, possibly through some corrective action.
Fox News took Lou Dobbs off the air one day after the Smartmatic suit named them as defendants in a defamation suit. It is, of course, too early to draw conclusions, but the timing is interesting. [Written on February 6, 2021]
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