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GENERAL BOOKS 686-3510
13th & Kincaid
M-F 7:30-5:30
Sat 10:00 3 00
Willamette Week courts lenient definition
By Bonnie Henderson
For the Emerald
SALEM — The Oregon Supreme Court on
Thursday heard arguments in a case expected to
have far-reaching consequences for Oregon jour
nalists accused of libel.
Among the significant issues before the court
is the question of how far a reporter must go in
confirming a story involving a private citizen, par
ticularly when that private citizen is involved in a
public controversy.
A 20-year-old U.S. Supreme Court ruling re
quires public figures and officials who are defam
ed to prove that the reporter acted with actual
malice, or "reckless disregard for the truth," but
standards of negligence for private citizens have
been left up to individual states.
The case before the court stemmed from
publication in 1978 of an article in Willamette
Week, a Portland tabloid, charging the Bank of
Oregon and its president, Homer Wadsworth,
with cheating its clients. The bank subsequently
sued the publi; hers of the newspaper, which was
at that time owned by the Guard Publishing Co.,
claiming the article had damaged its reputation
and standing in the business community in 45
specific instances of libel.
An attorney for Willamette Week urged the
court to adopt the same actual malice standard of
negligence for private figures that is applied to
public figures. Adoption of "simple negligence"
or "gross negligence" tests in which the defamed
person would have to prove only carelessness on
the part of the reporter, would result in larger
libel judgments against the press and would have
a distinct "chilling effect" on the media, said
Bruce Smith, the paper's attorney.
Negligence standards in journalism are hard
to pin down, because "the truth is elusive," and
there are no clear guidelines dictating how much
investigation of a story is enough, Smith said.
"If the only protection (for reporters) is with
public persons, then the risk is going to be great
for the press to take on private and contentious
persons," Smith said.
"Gross negligence is a better standard than
simple negligence, but we urge that actual malice
does provide a better balance."
Bernard Jolles, attorney for the Bank of
Oregon, argued that using actual malice or gross
negligence as the standard of care in such cases
amounts to giving the media special protection
under the law, and he claims the Oregon Con
stitution does not distinguish between the rights
of journalists and non-journalists. He discounted
the notion that a simple negligence standard
might have any measurable chilling effect on the
media.
In addition to urging the court to use actual
malice as a standard in all libel cases, Willamette
Week also argued that the bank, and by extension
its president, should be considered a public
figure because it is a publically-held company
regulated by both federal and state law.
"When you criticize a bank, it's implicit that
you may also be criticizing the government,"
Smith argued.
Banks, he said, are a "major public concern in
this state. .. .They are public figures, and so are
their presidents.”
Jolles countered Smith's argument by in
sisting that banks do not meet the traditional stan
dards used to define public figures.
"There is simply no evidence of any pervasive
fame on the part of either Bank of Oregon or
Wadsworth," he said.
"Certainly it should not be held that just
because a person goes into the banking business,
they give up the protection that the private per
son enjoys."
A ruling on the case is expected in early
summer.
Court's decision probably simple negligence
Willamette Week reporters
Richard Meeker and Ronald
Buel did not know their in
vestigation of Bank of Oregon's
lending practices six years ago
would affect reporters statewide
and eventually change Oregon's
libel law.
analysis
katy hull
The Bank of Oregon, and its
president Homer Wads
worth, sued the invest
igative tabloid for libel fol
lowing publication of a series
on the bank that appeared in
1978. They charged Willamette
Week with damaging the bank's
reputation saying that the story
discouraged local businessmen
from applying for loans with the
bank.
The Oregon Supreme Court
heard the case this week in
Salem and within six weeks they
will decide what the bank or any
individual in Oregon has to pro
Oregon doily
emerajd
The Oregon Daily Emerald is published Monday through Fri
day except during exam week and vacations by the Oregon Oally
Emerald Publishing Co , at the University of Oregon. Eugene OR,
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The Emerald operates independently ot the University with
offices on the third floor of the Erb Memorial Union and it a
member of the Associated Press
General Staff
Advertising Manager Susan Thelen
Classified Advertising Larry Swanson
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Controller Jean Ownbey
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ve against a media defendant to
collect damages for libelous
statements.
But there are questions about
the media's ability to
disseminate news with a
minimum of restraint that the
court must decide. Will the stan
dard be so ambiguous that
reporters won't know when
they are protected from libel
suits? Will confusion over the
standard create a chilling effect
and inhibit the 1st Amendment
freedom of speech? Similarly,
will imposition of this standard
cause Oregon's press to shy
away from reporting controver
sial stories?
The court has some recom
mendations from judges who
have already heard the case.
Multnomah County Circuit
judge Richard Unis decided that
for Bank of Oregon to collect
damages from the two reporters
and the newspaper, it must pro
ve that the reporters were gross
ly negligent in their research
and subsequent publication of
the story. Gross negligence, as
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defined in Unis' decision,
means a reporter was 'indif
ferent to the probably conse
quences" of his story. It has
been described as an "I don't
care" attitude.
The Oregon Court of Appeals,
which heard the case after Unis,
ruled that a standard of simple
negligence is sufficient to pro
tect media defendants. This
court pointed out that Article I,
Section 8, of the Oregon Con
stitution provides for freedom
of expression, while Article I,
Section 10, protects individuals
against abuse of those freedoms
and ensures their right to
recover damages for injury to
them. The appeals court reason
ed that the Oregon Constitution
is protection enough for the
media — it should receive no
special privileges.
Another reason the appeals
court chose simple negligence
and overturned the trial court
standard of gross negligence is
the "retraction clause." This
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