[WikiEN-l] Blog Entries (Bauer fork)

[William Pietri]

jayjg wrote:
>> What sort of editorial oversight do you believe is in place for an
>> interview in a normal publication?
>>     
>
> The fact checker checks that you said it; the editor decides whether
> or not the magazine or newspaper will fact a lawsuit if they print it.
> The latter, in my view, is fairly criticial.
>   

Could you point me at cases where publications have successfully been 
sued for publishing an interview with an expert where the expert gives 
their opinions on something? I've heard of publications being sued for 
libel over articles, and I've heard of people being sued for libel over 
what they say in the press, but I've never heard of a successful US suit 
against a publication for printing somebody else's opinion when that 
person is an expert on the topic. It's not my field, so I'm prepared to 
be surprised, but I'd be very, very surprised.

Barring precedents like that, I don't think it matters to us, just as 
long as we don't confuse expert opinion for fact. If we write "notable 
publisher X said that agent Y is a fraud", then we are reporting the 
fact of the saying, not an unproven fact of fraud.


William