The media has often been painted as a villainous institution, especially by
those who look to cover up secrets of their own, whether in India or overseas.
In recent times, the new head honcho of the United States of America, Donald
Trump, via his lawyers, sent a legal notice to one of the world’s leading
journalistic institutions, The New York Times. In this letter, he threatened to
sue the newspaper for publishing an article detailing two women’s allegations
that he (Trump) had groped or kissed them without consent.
The letter went on to charge the article with being “libelous”, “reckless”
and “defamatory” and called it a “politically-motivated effort to defeat
Trump’s candidacy”, and accused The Times of inadequately investigating the
truth of the claims. However, David McCraw, The Times’ Vice President and Assistant
General Counsel, responded to Trump’s threat with a lesson in basic libel law
and the First Amendment’s protections for a free press. The Times was well
within its rights to publish the story, McCraw added, because Trump is a public
figure and the issue is one of national importance. And contrary to Trump’s
claims, The Times’s reporters worked to confirm the women’s accounts and
printed his denial of the accusations.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
But this goes on to beg the question of how those in power can often use
their might to get their way. How does one deal with bullying at this level?
And how should media stand up to ‘power’? Does it affect us at a local level?
If yes, how do we deal with the situation?
The New York Times as an institution is familiar with threats of litigation
by government officials and other public figures who oppose the paper’s
reporting on them. It was New York Times v. Sullivan, the unanimous 1964
Supreme Court decision, that set forth the principle that promoting speech of
public interest is foundational to a democracy, and therefore a newspaper would
be protected from libel claims brought by public figures, even if it printed
erroneous statements, as long as the newspaper did not know the statement was
false, or recklessly disregard its truth or falsity.
–
with
case reference from The New York Times
Café speaks with a few media students in Goa and
gets their take on the matter:
Criticism from the government is a badge of honour for journalists. The
media should stand strong and continue their job and take a political party’s
negative comments in a positive way. And if the political parties are ignoring
the press and not sharing their views, the media should turn to the public and
ensure that they raise their voices.
Ninoshka Andrade
Media can use satire to its advantage. It’s gaining popularity and it’s
becoming very hard to contain. Also, The New York Times won’t lose out on too
much, as there are more people against Trump right now. So they do not have to
worry about going bankrupt, as long as they can deliver their stories and news
well.
Dunstan Dias
Considering that the The New York Times has dealt with a lot worse before
Trump came into power, the next supposed eight-year tenure should be nothing
for them. Without the media, the world wouldn’t know what was happening
anywhere! My suggestion as a media student would be to not care about what the
world says and do what they feel is right. The world will always have people
who agree and disagree on any matter! For example, take a rape case. You will
have people saying that it’s the girl’s fault for not dressing up properly, while
other will say it was the boy’s fault no matter what the girl was wearing. My
point being, that media should keep posting or saying whatever it is they have
to say; it’s the only way the world will ever learn.
Ashlesha Noronha
