Test Bank for Law of Journalism and Mass
Communication 6th Edition Trager Ross
Reynolds 1506363229
9781506363226
Download full test bank at: https://testbankpack.com/p/test-bank-for-law-of-journalism-and-masscommunication-6th-edition-trager-ross-reynolds-15063632299781506363226/
Chapter 5: Libel: Defenses and Privileges
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following is not one of the requirements of the fair report/qualified privilege?
a. The information must be obtained from a record, proceeding, or individual recognized
as “official ”
b. The news report must be concerning a matter of public controversy.
c. The news report must fairly and accurately reflect what is in the public record or what was said during the official proceeding.
d. The source of the statement should be clearly noted in the news report
Ans: B
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Fair Report Privilege
Difficulty Level: Medium
2. Which libel defense is specifically meant to protect reviews of products and services that are presented for public consumption?
a. fair report/qualified privilege
b. fair comment and criticism
c. neutral reportage
d. rhetorical hyperbole
Ans: B
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Fair Comment and Criticism
Difficulty Level: Easy
3. What is the purpose of a SLAPP?
a. to harass one’s critics into silence
b. to place a restraining order on a media outlet
c. an unconstitutional limit on free speech
d. all of these
Ans: A
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Anti-SLAPP Protection
Difficulty Level: Easy
4. Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act ______.
a. requires the application of the actual malice standard in libel actions
b. prevents a libel action from moving forward when one party is anonymous
c. protects internet service providers from liability in defamation cases if they are only serving as distributors of information
d. all of these
Ans: C
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Section 230 Immunity
Difficulty Level: Easy
5. In cases of anonymous speech, the courts will apply
a a SLAPP
b. the Dendrite test
c. actual malice
d. rhetorical hyperbole
Ans: B
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location:
Difficulty Level: Easy
6. Who was “Evans” in Ollman v. Evans?
a. a newspaper columnist
b. a newspaper reporter
c. a college professor
d. a political activist
Ans: A
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Opinion
Difficulty Level: Easy
7. The Milkovich v. Lorain Journal decision teaches that ______.
a. newspaper columns and columnists are immune from successful libel claims
b. in spite of being forums for opinion, newspaper columns and columnists may be targets of successful libel claims
c. letters to the editor are protected by the opinion defense
d. neutral reportage is limited in its scope
Ans: B
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Opinion
Difficulty Level: Easy
8. In defending a lawsuit based on statements of opinion, a defendant may win the case by arguing that the statements are ______.
a. rhetorical hyperbole
b. protected by the First Amendment
c. fair comment and criticism
d. all of these
Ans: D
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Opinion
Difficulty Level: Easy
9. The idea that material cannot be libelous when it is unbelievable relates to which libel defense?
a. wire service
b. fair comment and criticism
c. neutral reportage
d. rhetorical hyperbole
Ans: D
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Opinion
Difficulty Level: Easy
10. Which of the following is not among the criteria for the successful application of the neutral reportage libel defense?
a. The charges are made by a responsible and prominent source.
b. The charges are true
c. The charges are reported accurately.
d. The charges focus on a public official or public figure
Ans: B
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Other Defenses
Difficulty Level: Medium
11. What choice best describes the response of the nation’s courts to the neutral reportage libel defense?
a. Nearly all courts have embraced it.
b. About half of the courts accept it
c. Most courts have not adopted it
d. No court has yet accepted it.
Ans: C
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Fair Report Privilege
Difficulty Level: Easy
12. Which of the following is not among the criteria for the successful application of the “wire service defense”?
a. The information was from a reputable news gathering agency.
b. The republisher did not know the story was false
c. There was nothing to reasonably alert the defendant of a possible falsity
d. The information was republished without any change.
Ans: D
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Other Defenses
Difficulty Level: Medium
13. According to the single-publication rule, ______.
a. subsequent sales or reissues of publications are not considered to be new publications, and therefore are not susceptible to libel claims
b. subsequent sales or reissues of publications are considered to be new publications, and therefore are susceptible to libel claims
c. the rule does not apply to internet publications
d. the rule applies only to daily publications such as newspapers
Ans: A
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Other Defenses
Difficulty Level: Easy
14. According to the libel-proof plaintiff doctrine, ______.
a. certain public officials are in such important positions that the media are forbidden from libeling them
b. certain public officials are in such important positions that they cannot sue the media for libel
c. people with already bad reputations have an easier time winning libel lawsuits
d. some people have reputations so bad that even false and defamatory claims cannot harm their reputations any further
Ans: D
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Other Defenses
Difficulty Level: Easy
15 Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act ______.
a. protects internet service providers from libel when others create potentially libelous content, although the protection is not absolute
b. does not apply to libel law
c. protects anyone who posts libelous content online
d. provides absolute protection for internet service providers from libel when others create potentially libelous content
Ans: A
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Section 230 Immunity
Difficulty Level: Easy
16. Which of the following is not a libel defense?
a. opinion
b. rhetorical hyperbole
c. fair comment and criticism
d. actual malice
e. all these are libel defenses
Ans: D
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Other Defenses
Difficulty Level: Easy
17. What is the fair report privilege?
a. a privilege claimed by journalists
b. a privilege that can only be claimed when information comes from official records
c. a privilege that can only be applied when the reporting fairly and accurately reflects the content of an official record
d. all of these
Ans: D
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Fair Report Privilege
Difficulty Level: Easy
18. When does the neutral reportage defense apply?
a. when a story is newsworthy and related to a public controversy
b. when an accusation is made by a responsible person or group
c. when the story is accurate, contains other views, and is reported in a neutral way
d. all of these
Ans: D
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Other Defenses
Difficulty Level: Easy
19. Why did the Ninth Circuit court provide TheDirty.com Section 230 immunity?
a. because the website owner’s additional comments did not materially contribute to the defamatory content of the third-party (user) statements
b. because the speech in question was anonymous
c. because there is no statute of limitations in these cases
d. all of these
Ans: A
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Section 230 Immunity
Difficulty Level: Easy
20. When does Section 230 immunity apply to an ISP or website?
a. when the ISP/website is a content creator
b. when the ISP/website interacts directly with the content
c. when the ISP/website corrects, edits, adds, or removes content, as long as the action doesn’t substantially alter the meaning of the content
d. all of these
Ans: C
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Section 230 Immunity
Difficulty Level: Easy
21. What is a libel-proof plaintiff?
a someone whose reputation cannot be lowered beyond its current level
b. someone whose reputation can be harmed only by false statements
c. a private person
d. a public person
Ans: A
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Other Defenses
Difficulty Level: Easy
True/False
1. A libel plaintiff has to prove only one element of his or her case in order to succeed, whereas a libel defendant is required to prove every possible defense.
Ans: F
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Other Defenses
Difficulty Level: Medium
2. The fair report privilege is a qualified privilege.
Ans: T
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Fair Report Privilege
Difficulty Level: Medium
3. The late U.S. Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia wrote the majority opinion for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in Ollman v. Evans.
Ans: F
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Opinion
Difficulty Level: Easy
4. Letters to the editor are usually viewed as expressions of opinion and therefore unlikely to be the target of successful libel claims.
Ans: T
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Opinion
Difficulty Level: Easy
5. Given a choice between using the fair comment defense or the opinion defense, a libel defendant should use the opinion defense because it is based on the First Amendment.
Ans: T
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Opinion
Difficulty Level: Medium
6. The only requirement in using the fair report privilege as a libel defense is that the report be fair.
Ans: F
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Fair Report Privilege
Difficulty Level: Medium
7. The criteria for judging whether a statement was an expression of opinion was established by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Ollman case.
Ans: F
Answer Location: Opinion
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy
8. Over time, the neutral reportage defense has become one of the most used libel defenses because of its acceptance by courts nationwide.
Ans: F
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Other Defenses
Difficulty Level: Easy
9. The opinion defense is considered the constitutional equivalent of fair comment and criticism.
Ans: T
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Opinion
Difficulty Level: Easy
10. Under the First Amendment, there is no such thing as a false idea.
Ans: T
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Introduction
Difficulty Level: Easy
11. Courts have determined that under Section 230 gossip websites like TheDirty.com are protected the same as internet service providers.
Ans: T
Answer Location: Section 230 Immunity
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy
12. The fair report privilege covers officials and proceedings in the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of state, local, and federal governments and, often, private individuals communicating with the government.
Ans: T
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Fair Report Privilege
Difficulty Level: Easy
13. The libel defenses of fair comment and criticism and opinion are the same.
Ans: F
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Fair Comment and Criticism
Difficulty Level: Medium
14. Rhetorical hyperbole is a libel defense.
Ans: T
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Opinion
Difficulty Level: Easy
15. The single publication rule limits libel victims to only one cause of action even with multiple publications of the libel, which is common in the mass media and on websites.
Ans: T
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Other Defenses
Difficulty Level: Medium
Essay
1. When “qualified privilege” is mentioned, exactly what is it qualified on? In other words, what characteristics must the story contain to maintain the privilege?
Ans: fairness and accuracy
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Fair Report Privilege
Difficulty Level: Easy
2. What is the name given to the libel defense that asserts the reputation of the person suing is already so bad that a false report about him or her cannot damage it any further?
Ans: libel-proof plaintiff
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Other Defenses
Difficulty Level: Easy
3. Explain the concept of innocent construction.
Ans: Allegedly libelous words that are capable of being interpreted, or construed, to have an innocent meaning are not libelous, so long as that interpretation is a reasonable one.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Opinion
Difficulty Level: Easy
4. What is the neutral reportage defense? Does it apply in all states?
Ans: In libel law, neutral reportage is a defense accepted in some jurisdictions that says that when an accusation is made by a responsible and prominent organization, reporting that accusation is protected by the First Amendment even when it turns out the accusation was false and libelous. It does not apply in all states.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Other Defenses
Difficulty Level: Easy
5. List all the elements of the Ollman v. Evans test for opinion.
Ans: (a) Verifiability: Is the statement objectively capable of proof or disproof? In other words, can the statement be proven either true or false? (b) Common meaning: The inquiry must analyze the common usage or meaning of the words.
(c) Journalistic context: What is the linguistic or journalistic context in which the statement occurs? The entire article or column must be considered as a whole. The language of the entire column may signal that a specific statement, which, standing alone, would appear to be factual, is in fact a statement of opinion. (d) Social context: What is the broader social context into which the statement fits?
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Opinion
Difficulty Level: Easy
6. A newspaper runs a column on the editorial page once a week written by Julie James. The column is entitled “My Opinion.” One week, James writes a column about
animals, such as cats and dogs, being stolen from people’s yards and being sold to medical and cosmetic testing laboratories. The column includes information from police reports and statements from some people whose animals were stolen. The columnist makes clear that she thinks stealing animals for experimental purposes is a terrible thing to do. Then the column says, “Sam Jones, a deputy sheriff in Adams County, has received some of these animals and sold them to George Smith. Smith, in turn, sold them to the testing labs. While it is unclear whether Jones knew the animals were stolen, he knew that he was being a rotten and repulsive person, and dealing with people who like himself are among the lowest of the low.” Jones brings suit for libel based on the words “rotten,” “repulsive,” and “lowest of the low.” Assuming Jones can prove all the elements of the plaintiff’s case, what is the newspaper’s (and columnist’s) one best defense? Will it be a successful defense? Why or why not?
Ans: The best defense would be to argue that the words were the newspaper’s and the columnist’s “opinion.” Based on the Ollman v. Evans test, the paper would say that: (a) the words “rotten,” “repulsive,” and “lowest of the low” are slang, and are not statements of fact; (b) if taken literally, the words may be verifiable, but that if considered as slang they are not; (c) the specific context of the statement was a column entitled “My Opinion”; and (d) the general context of the story was the editorial page, a clear sign that it was meant to be opinion. Also, considering the Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co. case, the facts on which the opinion was based were spelled out, leaving no implication of unstated defamatory facts.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Opinion
Difficulty Level: Medium
7. Apply the jurisdiction test to the following scenario: Two Connecticut newspapers were investigating conditions of confinement at a Virginia prison. The story was relevant in Connecticut because some of the overflow prison population in Connecticut was being transferred to a Virginia facility. Articles that included content critical of the Virginia prison and its management appeared in the newspaper in both its print and online editions. The Virginia prison warden sued in federal court in Virginia, claiming that the online content was seen in Virginia and had defamed him there. How would the court decide if Virginia has jurisdiction?
Ans: The court would carefully review the articles and determine the target audience. If the court said the target audience was local (Connecticut), then Virginia would not have jurisdiction to hear the claim. Placing content online is not sufficient by itself to subject a person to the jurisdiction in another state just because the information could be accessed there.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Other Defenses
Difficulty Level: Medium
8. Explain how the courts are now interpreting Section 230 with the explosion in blogs and social media does Section 230 apply to more than just internet service providers? How does Section 230 deal with user-generated content?
Ans: For 20 years, courts have rejected attempts to limit the application of Section 230 to only “traditional” ISPs like Verizon or AOL. Instead, they have extended protection to the many diverse entities commonly called “interactive computer service providers.” Under this broader definition, blog sites and other interactive services like YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter that rely on usergenerated content, information provided from third-party RSS feeds, or reader comments also may receive immunity from libel claims under Section 230. The key to determining whether Section 230 protects against a libel claim is to identify the source of the content and the extent to which the ISP interacted directly with the content. For example, courts have ruled that when bloggers allow third parties to add readers’ comments or other materials to their blogs, then Section 230 protects them. What is less clear is whether those who edit comments or selectively publish reader comments also would fall under Section 230 immunity.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Section 230 Immunity
Difficulty Level: Medium