Absence of Malice tackles several journalistic legal and ethical issues through its main character, Megan, actions. One of the overlying issues in the film is libel. Megan wrote a story about an investigation into Michael Gallagher and this story caused Gallagher’s life to unravel. This story came from information inside a government file that she was leaked, but was it true? Did Megan commit libel because her piece damaged Michael’s life or is she protected because she was absent of malice?
One side of the argument says that Megan did not commit libel because she did not publish with fault. She had no intention of ruining Gallagher’s reputation and was reporting what she believed to the best of her knowledge to be the truth. The other side of the argument says that Megan did commit libel by being negligent in her reporting because she only had one source, she did not fact check, and she only reached out to Gallagher once.
Historic cases on libel have ruled decidedly on a case-by-case basis. In the Gertz v. Robert Welch Inc. (1973) case a lawyer Gertz was suing a magazine for publishing defamatory things about his character. Similarly to Michael Gallagher, this case was about a private citizen and his protection from libel. The rulings found that ordinary citizens should be allowed more protection from libelous statements than individuals in the public eye. Another historical case on libel was Hurst v. Capital Cities Media (2001). Hurst sued Capital Cities Media for reporting he was being questioned for a murder he was eventually cleared from. The court held that when the media truthfully reports information given by public officials that places a person in false light, even if the information proves to be false, the media is not at fault so long as the reporting was accurate.
From a young journalist point of view who has just finished learning about libel-and is terrified- I would have done things Megan. Of course I would have read the file, but I would have done my fact checking before I put it into print. I would have tried to contact more sources inside the justice department and I definitely would have tried harder to contact Gallagher. I would have made sure I covered this story from both sides and that each side had a voice.
Although this movie was released in 1981, Libel is still very much an issue that haunts journalist today. Journalist always have in the back of their mind- could I get sued for this? And that makes for better reporters. Reporters who fear libel will fact check their work, use multiple sources, and always present their story from straight down the middle. Libel is a scary issue, but a good issue for journalism.
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Absence of Malice
GOOD WORK!!
Good–but what are the different categories where does Gallagher fit?