Статті в журналах з теми "Libel and slander in mass media"

The paper follows specific features of the concept CHALLENGE and its comprehension in terms of the English-speaking culture. Present-day meanings and uses of the target lexeme are analyzed on the basis of British and American mass media. Etymology dictionaries and historical texts used within the framework of the present article are aimed at discovering shifts in the word’s meaning and demonstrating the building of the word meaning process. The major focus of the research is the analysis of various English corpora, which makes it possible to come to conclusions concerning the semantics of the target lexeme on the basis of large sets of original English texts.

Media literacy are the ability to know, analyze and deconstruct media image. The ability to make audience as mass media consumer like many people could know how to use mass media and social media. How mass media do contructing every information or media content to influence audience. Media literacy teach public to choose media content which is true or untrue (hoax). The knowledge of media literacy in the education world are important. Social media situation now are unclear. Netizen as social media user is always write and spread hated speech, issues and hoax to reach popularity. Negative behavior of netizens in the social media era, such as spread of untrue news (hoax), blasphemy and slander, black campaign, and various other negative behavior that every day can be found on smartphone which is a reflection of the bad behavior. This condition is sometimes exacerbated by the role of media contaminated with political interests and double standards so that only the party supporters news who get the most benefit in their message. So the knowledge of media literacy should transmit for public in the educational world.

In this paper the author critiques the approach to defamation over the Internet taken to date by the Canadian common law courts. In the emerging jurisprudence, the courts have relied upon untenably broad generalizations about Internet technology, repeatedly equating it with traditional broadcast media and expressing grave concerns about the corresponding threat to reputation posed by online defamation. This has led the courts to hold that when defamatory words are transmitted using the Internet, this will vitiate the availability of any qualified privilege that would otherwise have immunized the defendant from liability under traditional defamation principles, and substantially increase any resulting award of damages. The author argues that this approach results in a failure to strike the appropriate balance between free expression and the protection of reputation. The jurisprudence can also be seen as a product of a long-standing and unfortunate analytical tendency in defamation law—primarily apparent through the libel/slander distinction—whereby common law courts attach extremely divergent legal consequences to impugned statements based on indefensibly broad generalizations about the degree of danger to personal reputation posed by the medium in which the statement was communicated. Drawing inspiration from a comparison to defamation under the civil law of Quebec, the author proposes a new approach that eschews reliance upon unhelpful analogies and generalizations about particular media including the Internet, and involves the examination of impugned statements on a case-by-case basis, paying careful attention to the context in which these were actually made.

The issue of linguistic creativity in Chinese mass media sources published in English is considered. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that the English-language discourse of the Chinese mass media is studied as an independent culturally conditioned speech activity phenomenon that actualizes the cultural values of China and the civilizational values of the East. It is substantiated that linguistic creativity is realized in English texts through various forms of manifestation of Chinese national communicative identity: proverbs, allegories, analogies, hints, allusions, rooted in Chinese history, philosophy and folk experience. The updated concepts of proverbs emphasize the values of constant evolutionary movement on the principle of “movement in the still” and the values of collectivism, which are significant both in the country itself and in the region and the world. The collectivism peculiar to China determined the accentuation of the anti-value concepts of hegemony, shame, slander and humiliation. It has been proved that linguistic creativity in the Chinese media in English is also expressed in wordplay and word creation, if this contributes to a more effective presentation of China's position to the English-speaking audience and does not violate the principle of appropriateness. It has been established that in the Chinese English-language mass media, linguistic creativity is of a discursive-pragmatic nature, allows copying samples of linguistic creativity from English-language media and is supplemented with new associations and meanings in their own cultural context.

The Third-Person Effect - the tendency to see others as more influenced than self by a mass media message - is replicated with a jury sample and extended to interpersonal communication. The effect on perceived other is found to be exaggerated when a message is reported through a newspaper rather than delivered directly by the message source. This finding is discussed in regard to its implication for inflated libel awards.

Tindak pidana pencemaran nama baik, atau “defamasi,” adalah masalah hukum serius yang memengaruhi reputasi dan integritas seseorang. Dalam ranah hukum, baik hukum umum maupun hukum perdata, pencemaran nama baik memiliki karakteristik dan penanganan yang unik. Di negara-negara hukum umum seperti Inggris, pencemaran nama baik dibagi menjadi dua jenis utama: Slander (lisan) dan Libel (tertulis). Di sisi lain, dalam sistem hukum perdata seperti Indonesia, pencemaran nama baik dikategorikan sebagai tindak pidana dengan penekanan pada aspek pidana yang lebih kuat. Di Indonesia, peraturan terkait pencemaran nama baik terdapat dalam berbagai undang-undang dan peraturan, termasuk Kitab Undang-Undang Hukum Pidana (KUHP) dan Undang-Undang ITE. Namun, terdapat ketidakpastian dan kontroversi dalam penerapan pasal-pasal terkait dalam Undang-Undang ITE, terutama Pasal 27 ayat (3) yang mengatur pencemaran nama baik di media sosial. Perbedaan pendekatan antara hukum umum dan hukum perdata dalam menangani pencemaran nama baik menunjukkan pentingnya parameter yang jelas dalam mendefinisikan dan menangani kasus ini. Dalam konteks hukum Indonesia, penting bagi pemerintah dan lembaga terkait untuk mempertimbangkan kembali ambiguitas dalam Undang-Undang ITE dan memastikan keadilan dalam penegakan hukum. Langkah konkret seperti memperbaiki Undang-Undang ITE, menghilangkan pasal-pasal yang memiliki banyak interpretasi, dan menjadikannya pelanggaran perdata dapat diambil untuk meningkatkan kejelasan dan kepastian hukum dalam menangani kasus pencemaran nama baik. Upaya-upaya ini akan membantu menjaga keseimbangan antara melindungi reputasi individu dan kebebasan berekspresi dalam masyarakat demokratis.

This study aims to find out how the efforts made by LDNU in building public perception to prevent hoax news through the mass media. The research was conducted with a da'wah communication approach to build awareness of the phenomenon of hoax news. The research was conducted through a qualitative approach through a meta-analysis of the literature. Meta-analysis is a unique technique used to create an integrative or methodology review. First, LDNU creates social media accounts for news education and control; second, LDNU cooperates with the media and other institutions to narrow the space for slander and hoaxes; third, LDNU continues to use the basis of the ITE Law as a guide in the use of social media. Eight management principles are applied as an integral part in building awareness, perception, knowledge, skills, and social responsibility in preventing the spread of hoax news and other harmful content.

Purpose With growing dependency on social media for reportage, coupled with rising media errors with potential to threatening the boundaries of knowledge and reliable information, attention is now being drawn to credibility of using social media and other media outlet. This increasing attention is because of the apparent disorderliness in the information milieu as a result of powerlessness to regulate activities on social media coupled with the dilemma of tampering with fundamental right of individual to free speech. Unlike the traditional media houses with specific address and location, identifying the whereabouts of promoters of fake news is challenging as information can be manufactured at the remote locality and the consequence will be felt in all the four compass points of the world. Tracking down individuals peddling fake news for charges of slander, defamation or libel is difficult, as a result of the intercontinental nature of the social network. Design/methodology/approach This study used a qualitative research design, which is guided by the interpretive paradigm because it relies comprehensively on practical methods of content analysis in which concepts are discussed to convey an in-depth understanding of the topic being investigated and bringing new knowledge. Findings Ensuring that the citizenry is adequately information literate is sine qua non for reducing the threats posed by fake news access and use to the barest minimum. Ibenne (2016) notes that becoming information literate is a process that leads to empowerment of the individual to take rationally elevated decisions in information use and knowledge application. The authors may therefore conclude that falling prey to fake news plays majorly on ignorance among the citizenry, and on the other hand, irrational use of information. When citizens possess functional information literacy, they are able to subject the information they receive to critical evaluation to eliminate the undesirable, which fake news squarely fall under. Originality/value This paper sheds light on assessing the fake news infodemic as information disorder and a threat to reliable information access and use; therefore, information acquired from this study is imaginative and valuable to better understand how information professionals react to official and personal engagement.

Straipsnyje nagrinėjami teisinės, politinės ir ekonominės aplinkos veiksniai, ribojantys žiniasklaidos laisvę Lietuvoje. Analizuojama 2012–2013 m. situacija, įvertinant ankstesnių metų teisines, politines ir ekonomines aplinkybes, turinčias įtaką analizuojamo laikotarpio žiniasklaidos laisvės padėčiai Lietuvoje.Straipsnyje teigiama, kad žiniasklaidos laisvę Lietuvoje riboja teisės aktuose numatytos teisės laisvai gauti ir skleisti informaciją neužtikrinimas žiniasklaidos veikloje, perdėtai griežtos teisės aktų (ypač Baudžiamojo kodekso) normos, reglamentuojančios atsakomybę už netinkamą raišką viešojoje erdvėje, nepakankamas informacijos šaltinio atskleidimo reglamentavimo apibrėžtumas. Pagrindiniai politiniai veiksniai, ribojantys žiniasklaidos laisvę, yra susiję su politiniu žiniasklaidos pajungimu, naudojant žiniasklaidos nuosavybės bei finansavimo svertus. Ekonominiai veiksniai, turintys didžiausią įtaką žiniasklaidos laisvės varžymui: nepakankamas žiniasklaidos organizacijų ekonominis pajėgumas, valstybės finansinė politika žiniasklaidos subjektų atžvilgiu, žiniasklaidos organizacijų nuosavybės ir rinkos dalies koncentracija, žiniasklaidos organizacijų nuosavybės ir veiklos skaidrumo stoka, menkos žurnalistų ir redaktorių socialinės garantijos.Pagrindiniai žodžiai: žiniasklaida, laisvė, teisinė aplinka, politinė aplinka, ekonominė aplinkaFactors of limitation of media freedom in LithuaniaDeimantas Jastramskis SummaryThe analysis presented in this article reveals what factors of legal, political and economic environment reduce the media freedom in Lithuania.The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania stipulates that everyone has a right to hold opinions and freely express those, to obtain and disseminate information, whereas censorship of mass information is prohibited. The right to collect, obtain and publish information is stipulated by laws. However, journalists not always are able to access public records through clear administrative procedures in a timely manner.There are articles determining libel and defamation in the Lithuanian Penal Code (journalists and other citizens can be punished by fines or become imprisoned for up to two years). Although penalties for „irresponsible journalism” are applied only in exceptional cases, libel and defamation articles in the Penal Code stimulate self-censorship of some journalists.There are no special legal acts in Lithuania that would restrict the ownership concentration of the media organisations or the parts of the market that they occupy. Due to insufficient restriction on the property concentration in media, the legal environment (in relation to the independent media variety) is not assessed as very favourable.In Lithuania some editorial office owners (as well as editors) may support some political forces and consequently, the media administered by them disseminate quite biased political content. This is very obvious in the regional municipalities, where a large part of the local media is financially dependent on politicians and the main shareholders of the local media are also politicians. In connection to the political-financial influence on editorial offices self-censorship of journalists is a part of daily routine in some media organizations.There is an excessive concentration of media ownership in the hands of private interests that can be linked to the powerful societal actors. Highly concentrated groups that control organizations both in the media market and other fields of economy limit the variety of the media content on the national, regional and local levels.Since the property relations of the Lithuanian media subjects are only partially publicised and internal norms of behaviour and rules of the editorial offices are usually not developed, the management transparency of the media organisations is quite low.The economic pressure on the journalists is huge. Also one of the measures of reducing the journalist social benefits is a widespread practise not to enter into labour or authorship contracts, but rather to force them to work as freelancers on the basis of certificates issued by the State Tax Inspectorate.The analysed legal, political and economic factors of intervention in the media work process shows that the media independence from external actors is not ensured but the situation cannot be assessed as extremely critical from this point of view.

The Joker film is a film with the psychology genre by director Todd Phillips which is produced by the Warner Bros. studio with Joaquin Phoenix as the main character. The story of this film tends to be dark and dark and is considered to also affect one's psychology. Most of the communication and information obtained by the public comes from the mass media. Mass media is a form of media or means of communication used to disseminate information or news to the public or the public. The method used by the researcher is qualitative using the research method with semiotic analysis of Ferdinand De Saussure which analyzes the existing signs with documentation techniques carried out by the researcher. This study focuses on the process carried out to prove the existence of representations of non-physical violence in the Joker film. The researcher aims to show that there is an element of non-physical violence representation through the selection of scenes, text and images. The results of this study can be concluded that violence can be done non-physically, such as slander, abuse, and made jokes for those around him. Film Joker merupakan film dengan genre psikologi karya sutradara Todd Phillips yang diproduksi studio Warner Bros dengan Joaquin Phoenix sebagai pemeran utama. Kisah dari film ini cenderung kelam dan gelap serta dinilai juga bisa mempengaruhi psikologi seseorang. Komunikasi dan informasi yang diperoleh masyarakat sebagian besar berasal dari media massa. Media massa merupakan salah satu bentuk media atau sarana komunikasi yang digunakan untuk menyebarluaskan informasi atau berita kepada publik atau masyarakat. Metode yang digunakan oleh peneliti merupakan metode kualitatif dengan melakukan analisis semiotika Ferdinand De Saussure, yang menganalisa tanda-tanda yang ada dengan teknik dokumentasi yang dilakukan oleh peneliti. Penelitian ini berfokus pada proses yang dilakukan untuk membuktikan adanya representasi kekerasan non-fisik pada film Joker. Peneliti bertujuan menunjukkan adanya unsur representasi kekerasan non-fisik melalui pemilihan scene-scene, teks dan gambar. Hasil dari penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa kekerasan bisa dilakukan secara non-fisik seperti difitnah, dimaki, dijadikan bahan tertawaan bagi orang di sekitarnya. Individu yang lemah kemudian mempertahankan dirinya sendiri dalam keinginan untuk melukai atau mengikuti orang. Ini membuat individu menjadi tertekan, dan depresi. Tindakan perundungan atau bullying dalam bentuk kekerasan non-fisik dapat menyebakan permasalahan serius yang seharusnya lebih diperhatikan masyarakat seperti depresi, anti sosial, kecemasan, dan lainnya.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is actively being incorporated into the communication process, as AI rapidly spreads and becomes cheaper for companies and other actors to use. AI has traditionally been used to run social media. It is used in the various platforms’ algorithms, bots and deepfake technology, as well as for the purpose of monitoring content and targeting instruments. However, a variety of actors are now increasingly using AI technology, at times with malicious intent. For example, terrorist organizations use bots on social networks to spread their propaganda and recruit new fighters. The rise of crimes involving AI is growing at a rapid pace. The impact of this type of crime is extremely negative – mass protests which demand the restriction of the use of technology, the involvement of manipulated persons in criminal groups, the destruction of the reputation of victims of “smart” slander (sometimes leading to threats to their life and health), etc. Combating these phenomena is a task which falls to security agencies, but also civil society institutions, the academic community, legislators, politicians, and the business community, since the complex nature of the threat requires complex solutions involving the participation of all interested parties. This paper aims to find answers to the following research questions: 1) what are the current threats to the psychological security of society caused by the malicious use of AI on social networks? 2) how do malicious (primarily non-state) actors carry out psychological operations through AI on social networks? 3) what impacts (behavioral, political, etc.) do such operations have on society? 4) how can the psychological security of society be protected using existing approaches as well as innovative ones? The answer to this last question is inextricably linked to the possibilities offered by international cooperation. This paper examines the experiences of Germany and China, two leaders in the field of AI which happen to have different socio-political systems and approaches to a number of international issues. The paper concludes that by increasing international cooperation, it is possible to counter psychological operations through AI more effectively and thereby protect society’s interests.

SUMMARY: This article studies the rise and fall of the Red Death legend as a modern media phenomenon during the last decades of the Russian Empire. From the very beginning, Nikonian anti-sectarian propaganda accused Russian Old Believers of fanatically inhumane practices, which translated into the urban legends of human sacrifices practiced by some heterodox religious communities. In the late nineteenth century, one such hitherto marginal legend – about the Old Believers-Wanderers’ allegedly suffocating their coreligionists using a red pillow – came to the fore of Russia’s public opinion under the name of “Red Death.” A small community of radical Old Believers seeking a catacomb existence in isolation from any established social institutions, the Wanderers found themselves at the center of a public scandal. There were several criminal trials and police investigations of Wanderers on charges of ritual murder; local and central newspapers and even academic journals published stories substantiating the legend. However, between the mid-1890s and the early 1910s, the public discourse on the Wanderers underwent a sea change. Sensationalist allegations of ritual murder were increasingly opposed by both left- and right-leaning commentators and experts. In the rapidly nationalizing Russian Empire, in the age of mass politics, the Wanderers were recoded from religious marginals into members of the ethnically Russian majority. Against the backdrop of the Multan case against Udmurts who were allegedly practicing ritual murder and the Jewish blood libel of the Beilis case, the Red Death legend appeared to equate the Wanderers and thus Russians with the ultimate “minorities.” Therefore, modern Russian nationalists, regardless of their political views, prefer to discard the Red Death allegation altogether lest it compromise the claim of ethnic Russians for hegemony as a modern nation. Резюме: В статье исследуются причины взлета и падения популярности легенды о “Красной смерти” как модерного медиафеномена в послед-ние десятилетия существования Российской империи. Никонианская антисектантская пропаганда с самого начала обвиняла русских старо-обрядцев в фанатизме и бесчеловечных обрядах, что нашло отражение в слухах о человеческих жертвоприношениях, будто бы практикуемых некоторыми старообрядческими согласиями. В конце XIX века один из таких местных слухов о старообрядцах-странниках (“бегунах”), якобы душивших своих единоверцев красной подушкой, неожиданно обрел общероссийский резонанс в виде легенды о “Красной смерти”. В центре общественного скандала оказалась небольшая община старообрядцев, стремившихся к изоляции от мира, а на практике избегавших контактов с любыми официальными институтами. Странники оказались фигуран-тами нескольких судебных процессов и уголовных расследований по обвинению в ритуальном убийстве; местные и центральные газеты и даже научные журналы публиковали статьи, обсуждающие эту легенду как достоверные сведения. Однако между серединой 1890-х и началом 1910-х годов публичный дискурс о странниках претерпел кардиналь-ные изменения. Сенсационные обвинения в ритуальном убийстве все чаще встречали отпор со стороны комментаторов и экспертов разных политических взглядов, как левых, так и правых. В стремительно на-ционализирующейся Российской империи, в эпоху массовой полити-ки, произошло “перекодирование” странников: прежде в них видели религиозных маргиналов, а теперь все чаще воспринимали как членов этнически русского большинства, пусть и несколько специфических. Легенда о “Красной смерти” вставала в один ряд с “Мултанским делом” против удмуртов, якобы практиковавших ритуальные убийства, и “де-лом Бейлиса” как наиболее известным эпизодом еврейского кровавого навета. Тем самым странники, а значит и этнические русские в целом, уравнивались в отсталости и дикости с “национальными меньшинства-ми”. Поэтому модерные русские националисты, независимо от своих политических взглядов, предпочли отвергать существование “Красной смерти” в принципе, чтобы не компрометировать претензии этнических русских на доминирующую роль в империи как модерной нации.

WHO TO TRUST? Christian Belief in Conspiracy Theories by Nigel Chapman et al. Victoria, Australia: ISCAST, 2022. 164 pages. Paperback; $12.99. ISBN: 9780645067156. ebook/discussion paper. https://iscast.org/conspiracy/. *Conspiracy theories (CTs) have existed for as long as humans have been able to record them for posterity; however, due to the exponential growth of electronic media, the proliferation and popularity of CTs have made them ubiquitous. Western societies have been particularly affected by CTs in recent decades through our ability to communicate unfiltered diatribes at the speed of light, by the seductive influence of CTs as a form of mass entertainment, and by unabashed populists who use them to tar their political rivals. Though they still frequently draw ridicule, conspiracy claims are now a mainstream form of grievance, spread by people--rich, poor, weak, and powerful--across the political spectrum. This is largely why academics in the behavioral and social sciences, concerned by the harmful impact of CTs on public discourse and social behavior, have begun to treat them and the people who promote them as objects of serious study. *Sadly, committed Christians are no strangers to the conspiracy mindset, and not only those who belong to fringe communities obsessed with end-times prophecy and creeping authoritarianism. Hence, learning to identify the common elements of conspiracist thinking and guarding themselves, their relationships, and their faith communities against its corrosive influence, is a timely and urgent issue for those who claim to be followers of Christ. *This short book (or long "discussion paper," as its authors describe it) is the product of fifteen science and theology authors who are committed Christians and associates of the Institute for the Study of Christianity in an Age of Science and Technology (ISCAST), an Australian organization that promotes dialogue on the intersection of faith and science. The central goal of this work is to harmonize the academic research on conspiracy thinking with biblical ethics in order to help Christian leaders and their communities address the phenomenon of conspiracism in a socially constructive and spiritually uplifting manner. *The book contains five main chapters--two of a theoretical nature and three of a practical nature. The first two summarize the ideas of leading academics (Barkun, Brotherton, Douglas, Dyrendal, Uscinski and Parent, van Prooijen, etc.), with a special focus on political polarization and populism, and the ways these shape, or are shaped by, conspiracy theories. The third chapter examines popular vaccine and COVID-19-themed conspiracy theories in Australia, North America, and Europe, and it highlights the exaggerated suspicions many Christians harbor toward government, media, academia, and other mainstream epistemic authorities. The last two chapters discuss the ethical, psycho-social, and organizational challenges that conspiracism poses on the way Christians live and think, admonishing them--as individuals and faith communities--to examine conspiracy claims in an epistemically responsible, socially constructive, and biblically grounded manner. *This book presents several strong arguments. First, because some conspiracy claims turn out to be true (Watergate, Iran-Contra, etc.), there is need to exercise careful discernment, engage in charitable exchanges, and consult appropriate expert sources when considering the credibility of specific CT claims. Real conspiracies generally turn out to be less ambitious in scope than the more elaborate theories that flourish in alternative media (JFK, "deep state," flat earth, deadly vaccines, etc.) and are usually the product of organized criminal networks, political graft, or fraudulent business deals. *Second, implausible CTs are often promoted by fringe media, non-experts, and subversive political movements, all of whom habitually traffic in speculation rather than hard evidence, blame vague or invisible enemies who cannot be prosecuted, berate official narratives rather than present a consistent counter-theory, ask rhetorical questions that invite the hearer to distrust experts, and make bombastic claims that reinforce anxieties of impending doom, furtive enemies, secret patterns hiding in plain sight, social marginalization, and political alienation. *Third, CTs negatively affect social relations by "building isolation, paranoia, anxiety, or depression in some individuals, [...] splitting friends, families, churches," disrupting communities, and "undermining [legal, political, and academic] institutions through cynicism and mistrust" (p. 6). Not only is the impact of strong conspiracy beliefs detrimental to healthy social relationships and responsible citizenship, CTs also undermine the New Testament's instructions not to slander, not to proffer angry judgments and insults, nor to engage in strife and partiality but rather to live in harmony, love, respect, patience, and forbearance in accordance with Christ's example. *Fourth, these considerations should lead Christians who feel drawn to conspiracist explanations to exercise humility in their search for truth, and to nurture a predisposition to healing rather than attacking relationships and institutions. "A Christian conspiracy theorist should understand themselves to be seeking truth and justice" (p. 6), cultivating awareness of the biases and self-victimizing tendencies that especially affect Christians (e.g., through divisive biblical and pseudo-biblical doctrines), and fostering dialogue rather than fractious debate. "Conspiracy theories may be true or false. But if we want to avoid spreading untruths, injustices, and strife, then we must cultivate a reasonable and peaceable impartiality in the way that we assess or discuss them" (p. 114). *Finally, "inoculation is better than cure" (p. 131). By sensitizing believers to the challenges of cognitive biases and disinformation, we can help them guard their hearts and minds against disruptive CTs and the unhealthy behaviors they elicit. "We should train Christians to hear diverse views; have good conversations; debate ideas; hear from Christians who work as experts or authorities in public life; demand consistent democratic values in public life; and have the emotional maturity to be generous in spirit toward their opponents (p. 6)." *This book/discussion paper serves as a useful and well-rounded survey of academic literature on conspiracism and as a primer for practical discussions on trust, responsible research, and Christian ethics. It contains useful definitions, summaries, and suggestions for further reading that make the text easy to read and to follow. Its language is accessible to most, though its content is less balanced in its accessibility to a mass audience. The information presented in the first two chapters may be complex to those with little knowledge of psychology and political science, while the second half, strong in biblical references, requires the reader to have some level of familiarity with the scriptures and (it goes without saying) a belief in their moral authority. Inversely, well-versed readers may find that the overview presented in the first half of the work lacks depth of analysis. Readers will also notice a lack of cohesion (and some repetition) between chapters, but this is unsurprising in a 163-page discussion paper written by fifteen authors divided into four working groups. Like the old adage that a giraffe is a racehorse designed by a committee, so too does this work end up lacking some unity. Nevertheless, it still serves as a useful guide for church leaders seeking greater theoretical and/or practical understanding of conspiracy thinking, and for small groups wishing to improve communications, counselling services, and ministry to the politically and socially disaffected within their church or wider community. *If we reformulate the title of this text to "Whom Should Christians Trust?," and distill it through the clichéd but effective rhetorical question "What would Jesus do?," we might then ask ourselves, "Whom would Jesus fear?" The answer to this question, of course, is "no one," because his kingdom is not of this world. This maxim encapsulates the central message of this discussion paper, which admonishes its readers not to fall prey to worldly anxieties but to have--and to guide others toward--the confidence that Christ has already won the battle against all evil plots. His followers need only guard their hearts against despair and pursue the truth with love. *Reviewed by Michel Jacques Gagné, a historian, podcaster, and the author of Thinking Critically about the Kennedy Assassination: Debunking the Myths and Conspiracy Theories (Routledge, 2022). He teaches courses in critical thinking, political philosophy, and ethics at Champlain College, St. Lambert, QC.

Abstract The rise in defamation claims in Malaysia has placed an onerous workload on the courts to deal with such matters. Against this backdrop, Hamid Sultan Abu Backer JC (as his Lordship then was) (Hamid Sultan JC) suggested in two separate High Court decisions that to alleviate the courts’ burden, matters pertaining to libel and slander ought to be constrained to the criminal courts through appropriate statutory amendments, including to the Criminal Procedure Code (Malaysia). In this paper, the author cautions against the learned Hamid Sultan JC's recommendations and proffers an alternative proposal in the form of media arbitration schemes to handle the growing influx of defamation claims. In particular, the salient features of the IMPRESS and IPSO Schemes from the United Kingdom are scrutinised in detail and measured in terms of suitability for a potential arbitration scheme in the Malaysian jurisdiction.

This Article argues that Sullivan was not only a “civil rights case,” but also very much a libel case, one that was influenced by contemporaneous debates over libel law and freedom of the press. The Court intervened in what was perceived at the time as a near-crisis for the press caused by an increasing number of libel suits and large damage awards against publishers in the 1950s and ’60s. This escalation was a notable departure from the relatively tame “libel climate” of the previous forty years. For most of the first half of the twentieth century, the press had been able, to a remarkable degree, to avoid and defeat libel suits through strategic navigation of the libel law landscape. By combining a tactical accommodation of libel law with a dedicated resistance to it, the press had learned to “liv[e] with the law of libel.” By the 1940s, most of the nation’s major newspapers faced only a handful of libel suits each year, and the amount paid in judgments and settlements was low. The upset of that equilibrium, starting in the 1950s, put libel on the Supreme Court’s radar, and it spurred the Court to contemplate more aggressive intervention into the state law of libel. In what follows, I shed new light on Sullivan through an account of the history of libel law and litigation in the United States in the years prior to the case, and the libel law context in which Sullivan was initiated and rose through the courts. This Article does not dwell on the constitutional law developments that influenced Sullivan or the common law of libel prior to Sullivan, but instead focuses on how the press dealt with libel, and the practical implications of libel law for American print media in the years leading up to Sullivan. In so doing, it reveals a reality about libel law that cannot be readily gleaned from a study of case law or treatises: that for much of the twentieth century, especially prior to the 1950s, libel did affect press behavior and the ability of the press to publish newsworthy stories, although it likely did not have the highly chilling effect on the press that its rigid formal doctrines suggested. Libel law did impose burdens on the press; it did require self-censoring to some extent. Yet many sectors of the press enjoyed broad latitude to report the news and to comment on politics and public issues, libel law notwithstanding. That state of affairs, however, was seemingly threatened by changing libel trends in the 1950s and ’60s. Changes in the nation’s social and political culture, new dynamics of tort litigation, and new norms and practices of journalism increased the willingness and ability of plaintiffs to sue for libel and to recover damages. In an era when controversies around communism and civil rights, hostility towards the press, and large jury verdicts in tort cases encouraged the use of large-scale libel litigation as a weapon in political and cultural battles, when tort judgments increased nationwide, and when news publications received record-high jury verdicts in libel cases, many news outlets could no longer rely on their established systems for dealing with libel suits, and the likelihood of chilling effects was heightened. This change in the libel climate was not the only force encouraging the Court to institute constitutional protections in libel law, but it was an important factor, one that has been overlooked in standard accounts of the Sullivan case. This Article describes the libel law history leading up to New York Times v. Sullivan. It explores the cultural and legal contexts that surrounded the case, and it suggests the influence of those contexts on the Supreme Court’s actions in Sullivan. Drawing on legal sources, popular literature, journalism, and the archival papers of publishers, it offers an account of how the press accommodated and resisted libel, how libel law shaped the workings of the press, and how the press shaped libel law. The Article focuses on major newspapers (and to a lesser extent, magazines) that dealt regularly with libel issues and libel litigation, and also preserved substantial records of their operations. This Article chronicles the rise, fall, and partial resurgence of libel as a critical concern for the press in the United States from 1880 to 1964. Part I provides background on the law of libel. Part II describes the development of the mass circulation press in the late 1800s and the many libel suits that accompanied the rise of popular publishing. A surge of libel suits, spurred in part by sensationalistic yellow journalism, posed a formidable burden and near-existential crisis for newspapers in the late nineteenth century. By the early twentieth century, however, the adoption of professional ethics and standards of accuracy and objectivity in journalism, including fact-checking and “libel-vetting” programs at many newspapers, reduced the number of potentially actionable statements and defused the libel crisis. The need to reduce or avoid libel had become an integral part of the professionalization of journalism. Therefore, by the 1920s, primarily as a result of the press’s own efforts, libel had receded to the periphery of the problems faced by most major newspapers. As Part III describes, those elaborate systems of editing and checking for libel, the use of legal counsel to conduct prepublication review, and aggressive litigation strategies kept the number of libel suits and judgments low at most publications. These efforts consumed resources and curtailed some news content. Yet anecdotal accounts from publishers and lawyers suggests that they did not impose stifling burdens on publishing. A fairly broad freedom of the press existed, if not in formal law, then in the law’s practical operation. The 1950s saw the resurgence of libel suits against the press. In the political ferment of the postwar era, an emboldened, well-funded press engaged more forthrightly in political critiques and investigative journalism, and the subjects of such reporting reacted with libel suits. As Part IV describes, the number of libel suits against the press increased, as did the amount of damages claimed and awarded. Many of the press’s established strategies for dealing with libel no longer functioned as they once did. Libel law became more of a concern for the press, and libel cases became central to the era’s political and culture wars. Against this contentious backdrop, the Supreme Court made its first, historic intervention into libel law in New York Times v. Sullivan.