Libel Exercise

2) Libel Exercise: Here's your chance to play editor. Read the following draft of a college newspaper story and determine if it contains any passages that are libelous. If you believe you have found a libelous passage, describe it and say why you believe it is libelous. Then briefly explain what you would need to do to fix it (or whether you would need to omit it) before you could run the story.

Here's the news story draft to review for libel:
A sophomore at Springfield University claims a chemistry professor has sexually harassed her.

Karen Hart, 123 Hill Hall, says the professor, George O.T. Jungle, has touched her during tutoring sessions in his office and has invited her to his apartment several times. She said she declined his invitations. (I Find this passage to be extremely libelous. According to Harrower pg 140, “If people are likely to be damaged by a story, give them a chance to defend themselves. This passage is only one side to the supposed story and offense. This statement needs to be re-written.)

"I am having trouble in the class and I have to go see him to get help with my papers and projects," Hart said. "But I am scared to go in his office now."

Jungle denied having an improper contact with the student and threatened this newspaper with a libel suit if it published the story.
Hart said she is thinking of filing a formal complaint with the university. (No formal complaint has been made so there is no evidence or in essence any proven crime.)

"I don't know how to do that," she said. "I don't know what to do."

(This whole story needs to be re-written and should possibly not be printed until a formal complaint has been made by the student) Right now it is libelous to run the story because there is no proven evidence it is just hearsay. Jungle cannot even claim he is innocent or make a proper response because right now the statement. His name should not be used in the story either. The whole story is incomplete because there are not two sides and the statements are not verifiable, nor are they in the process of being verified by a judicious authority.)