During his lecture over newspapers and their history, Mr. Miller briefly mentioned to his Journalism 1 White 2 class slander and libel. He gave a limited description of the two, but only spent a minute or so on the topic. However, slander and libel laws are important things to remember as a student and as a journalist.
Though they are complex and can be tedious, it seems as though maybe a minute or five more should be devoted to these topics, especially libel laws. Slander laws don't apply as much to journalism or academics, but libel laws most certainly do. Libel is, according to Google, "a published false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation; a written defamation." It seems that, especially in journalism class, libel would be treated as equally serious as plagiarism. Libel can have just as harsh of consequences and be just as academically scandalous.
Sometimes, there's a deadline that is fast approaching, and as students, or as journalists, we can be tempted to copy and paste or look up synonyms just to fill in. But we can also be tempted to make up things just to get it done. While writing an article, twisting the words of someone's quote, or not bothering to verify the quote, can be quite tempting. Libel is a major cause of lawsuits, and should be taken just as seriously as plagiarism.
Sometimes, there's a deadline that is fast approaching, and as students, or as journalists, we can be tempted to copy and paste or look up synonyms just to fill in. But we can also be tempted to make up things just to get it done. While writing an article, twisting the words of someone's quote, or not bothering to verify the quote, can be quite tempting. Libel is a major cause of lawsuits, and should be taken just as seriously as plagiarism.
Don't worry, we will definitely return to these topics this year.
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