>It isn't just a malicious statement. Otherwise Tabloids and every talking >head would be out of a job. > >It is a malicious statement presented as fact with the intent to do harm. > >Jokes, even bad ones, satire, and things like that don't count.
You're absolutely correct...but you'd have a hard time justifying his remarks as a joke. Again, they have to be stated in such a way that any reasonable person would see it as humor...many reasonable people do not at all find them as anything other than remarks with malicious intent. You may not agree...but Imus saying it was just a joke it not enough to clear the statements of being slander. As for tabloids..they certainly get sued on a regular basis and there have been some pretty hefty damages awarded. But they are pretty good at covering what they do, and in general, suing them is more damaging to the celebrity being libeled than just ignoring them. Most have lawyers on staff to read over questionable articles to make sure they stay just short of crossing the line of presenting the information as "fact". ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| ColdFusion MX7 and Flex 2 Build sales & marketing dashboard RIAâs for your business. Upgrade now http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion/flex2?sdid=RVJT Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:232517 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
