Sun-Times Media Photographer Exposed

(Photo credit: Krista76)Sun-Times Media photographer Tamara Bell, whose work appeared in Pioneer Press publications, including the Morton Grove Champion and the Deerfield Review, has been fired for fabricating names and quotes, the Pioneer Press publisher has announced.

Sparked by a reader's complaint, the newspaper chain launched an internal probe that uncovered  43 photos and captions from the "Question of the Week" feature that proved questionable. According to Publisher Chris Krug, Bell, when confronted, admitted to 22 instances of faking names and quotes.

Hard to gauge which is more puzzling--that a professional photojournalist would engage in such conduct and not believe the fakery would be uncovered, or that, given the small-town nature of the papers that ran the "Question of the Week," it took so long for her superiors to discover the chicanery.

Potboiler Publisher Won't Share the Pot, Romance Novelists Claim in Contract Suit

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Expect plenty of bodice-ripping, burning eyes and flaming lips, and waves crashing against the ocean in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as three romance novelists have filed a putative class action breach of contract/unjust enrichment suit against Harlequin Enterprises Ltd. ("HEL") concerning E-book royalties.

The case, reported on by Courthouse News Service and the Wall St. Journal Law Blog, is Barbara Keiler, Mona Gay Thomas & Linda Barrett v. Harlequin Enterprises Ltd., Harlequin Books, S.A. & Harlequin Enterprises B.V. (Case No. 12-cv-5558). Toronto-based HEL, the subject of a copyright infringement suit earlier this year reported here (see "TUOL" post 4/23/12), reportedly cranks out 110 titles monthly in 34 languages reaching 114 international markets from its stable of 1,200 authors. As faithful readers of this blog no doubt know, lead plaintiff Keiler is the author of Right Place, Wrong Time and Blooming All Over, Thomas penned His Secret Duchess and The Heart's Desire, while the collected works of Barrett include Apple Orchard [not to be confused with Anton Chekhov's obvious knock-off Cherry Orchard] and Love Money and Amanda Shaw.

The plaintiffs are seeking class-action status that would cover Harlequin authors who penned books for the defendants overflowing with heaving bosoms during the period from 1990 to 2004. The plaintiffs allege in their complaint that they are owed royalties on E-book editions of their works because of a standard contract clause that pays authors 50 percent royalties on net receipts of the "publisher, from the exercise, sale or license of digital rights to their works."

The plaintiffs contend that defendants Switzerland-based Harlequin Books S.A. and Netherlands-based Harlequin Enterprises B.V. are HEL subsidiaries that perform no publishing functions and merely provide tax benefits to the parent company. HEL claims it had to obtain a license from its Swiss arm to publish the authors' E-books and that any royalty calculation should be based on the publisher Harlequin Switzerland license, or 6 percent to 8 percent of the E-book's cover price, which means 3 to 4 percent for the authors.

As set forth in the plaintiffs' complaint:

 "In 2011, Harlequin Enterprises sent written communications to plaintiffs and the other class members in which it took the position that royalties for e-books were covered by the AOR [All Other Rights] Clause in the Publishing Agreements and that the authors' 50% royalty was to be calculated based on the net amount received by Harlequin Switzerland, from a 'license' that Harlequin Enterprises claims Harlequin Switzerland granted to it to publish the e-books," the complaint states. "Harlequin Enterprises claimed in those communications that the net amount received by Harlequin Switzerland was 6% to 8% of the cover price of the e-books, and that the royalties owed to plaintiffs and to other class members were therefore 50% of that amount, or 3% to 4% of the cover price.

     Under the publishing agreements, defendants have been paying plaintiffs and the other class members e-book royalties of 3% to 4% of the cover price based on the net amount received by Harlequin Switzerland from the claimed 'license' granted to Harlequin Enterprises, far less than what plaintiffs and the other class members would have been paid if their royalties were based, as they should have been, on the net amount received by Harlequin Enterprises." 

The "TUOL" staff can't help but wonder whether the judge hearing the case wears an eyepatch and has a handsome scar.

The Weekly Reader Is Kaput--Run, Spot, Run!

(Photo credit: mahlness)Scholastic-owned The Weekly Reader ("TWR"), the Pre-K to 12th grade classroom magazine whose roots date back to 1902, is no more, The New York Post reports.

All but five of the White Plains, N.Y.-based TWR staffers will be pink-slipped, as its owner plans to fold the journal into its own Scholastic News, according to the Post article. What evolved from Current Events (1902) into My Weekly Reader (1928) (to which the literate staff of "TUOL" once eagerly subscribed) fell on hard times as it never entered the digital age.

The publication once boasted 13 million subscribers, but by 1990 was down to one million, and the Post article suggests its current readership was only a third of that. Scholastic bought TWR from the Readers Digest Assn. in February 2012, for somewhere between $10 million and $20 million.

The "TUOL" staff is heartbroken by the news and wonders where it will go to try to find the spoon, hair brush and banana in the Hidden Picture.

High Court Finds Two U.K. Dailies in Contempt in Murder Trial Coverage

Levi Bellfield (Photo credit: Wikipedia)In HM Attorney General v. Associated Newspaper Ltd. & Anor [2012] EWHC 2029, the High Court of Justice found The Daily Mirror and The Daily Mail violated the Contempt of Court Act of 1981 (Ch. 49) in their coverage of the trial of Levi Bellfield for the murder of Milly Dowler, The Guardian (www.guardian.com.uk) reports.

Coverage of the trial of Bellfield for the murder of Dowler and attempted kidnapping of Rachel Cowles began in early May 2011. Bellfield, convicted of the murder of two women in 2008, was found guilty of killing Dowler by the jury on June 23, 2011. While the jury was still deliberating on the Cowles kidnapping charge, the Mail and Mirror published articles on June 24, 2011, containing information not previously presented to the jury, the High Court found.

Specifically, the Mail article concerned Bellfield's alleged murder of another woman and the drugging and raping of schoolgirls, while the Mirror wrote about Bellfield's alleged mistreatment of his ex-wife and a former girlfriend, as well as the purported rape of a disabled woman.

The High Court, in a judgment by Sir John Thomas,  found both papers' articles "seriously prejudicial" as had the trial judge, who cited the prejudicial nature of the articles in discharging the jury before it decided the kidnapping allegation.

Although the High Court's decision is consistent with the strict liability provision of the Contempt of Court Act, it is arguable whether a jury that already knew of Bellfield's 2008 homicides and itself had convicted him of Dowler's murder could be prejudicially influenced against him by the Mail and Mirror articles.

UPDATE: Change of Heart--Ill. Judge Says Tech Blog Covered by Shield Law

Image via CrunchBase

Six months after deciding that a consumer electronics blog was not covered by Illinois' shield law [75 Ill. Comp. Stat. secs 5/8-901 to 8-909] (see "TUOL" post 1/23/12), Cook County Circuit Judge Michael Panter has ruled that Calif.-based TechnoBuffalo.com does not have to disclose the identity of the anonymous source who gave the blog images and instructional data about Motorola's Droid bionic smartphone before the product was released.

TechnoBuffalo, a three-year-old blog that reviews products and reports tech news, filed a motion for reconsideration after Judge Panter held it was not a news medium engaged in reporting. Pursuant to Section 5/8-902(a) of Illinois' shield law, "any person regularly engaged in the business of collecting, writing or editing news for publication through a news medium on a full-time or part-time basis" is a reporter. A news medium, as defined bySection 5/8-902(b), is "any newspaper or other periodical issued at regular intervals, whether in print or electronic format, and having a general circulation."

Judge Panter, upon further review, said under the Act, TechnoBuffalo is a news medium and its employees, reporters. '"News is defined by www.merriam-webster.com as 'a report of recent events' and 'previously unknown information,"' Judge Panter wrote. " Similarly, Dictinary.com [sic] defines 'news' as 'a report of recent events.' Under the ordinary meaning of 'news,' the article at issue presented a report on recent events, namely the upcoming release of a new Motorola smartphone. It also supplied previously unknown information. As such, TechnoBuffalo's article falls under the broad, plain meaning of 'news,'" Judge Panter concluded.

News Media Takes a Holiday from Fact-Checking

Image via CrunchBaseRyan Holiday, if one were to believe HARO (Help A Reporter Out), a Web site of source listings for reporters, is an expert in topics ranging from boats and vinyl phonograph albums to insomnia. It turns out, however, according to Poynter.org, that Holiday's expertise is in the field of chain-yanking media outlets, including ABC News, Reuters, and the venerable New York Times.

Holiday, author of Trust Me,I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator, who is having a book release party tonight (if one can believe him), was interviewed by Forbes and the Columbia Journalism Review about his exploits, which involved misleading nearly two dozen journalists. Holiday said he wanted to illustrate online journalism problems caused by journalists' reliance on sites such as HARO for sourcing.

Reuters interviewed him as an expert on "Generation Yikes", Manitouboats.com sought his knowledge about winterizing watercraft, while the New York Times talked to him about collecting vinyl records, which he later confessed he doesn't collect.  Most of the snookered news outlets have since published editor's notes, corrections or retracted their Holiday content.

Seems as if the Holiday involved is April Fools Day.

Cincinnati Enquirer: More Portable, More 'Wallable"

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)Gannett Co.-owned Cincinnati Enquirer, which has endured newsroom cuts and shrinking ad revenues and circulation in recent years (see "TUOL" posts 2/18/11, 7/13/09), this fall will switch to a smaller format and erect a paywall to charge for online content, the business journal Cincinnati Morning Call reports.

Enquirer Editor Carolyn Washburn claims the changeover to a 10-by-14-inch format like the Columbus Dispatch, and imposing an as-yet-to-be-determined fee structure for its online edition will enable the daily to stave off financial losses and to retain its 150-plus journalists.

Apparently, Cincinnati's first-place baseball team isn't the only business in the city that sees "Reds."

Ethiopian Court Brands Six Journalists 'Terrorists'

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)Citing their purported involvement in Ginbot 7, an Ethiopian court has imposed jail terms on six journalists for alleged terrorist activities, The Guardian (www.guardian.com.uk) reports.

Five of the journalists targeted live in exile and were sentenced in absentia, but award-winning blogger Eskinder Naga, received an 18-year prison term for his link to the U.S.-based Ginbot 7, which the authoritarian African regime has designated a terrorist organization. Press freedom advocates and human rights groups are skeptical of the purported underlying terror plot that triggered the prosecutions, according to The Guardian article.

Naga, along with fellow journalists Mesfin Negash, Abiye Teklemariam, Abebe Gellaw, Fasil Yenealem and Abebe Belew, have denied the charges.

Ft. Worth Editorial Massacre

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)Newspapers don't re-shift their emphasis to digital media platforms without bloodletting, and according to media Web site Romanesko.com, pink slips are flying fast and furiously in the newsroom of the McClatchy Co.-owned Ft. Worth Star-Telegram.

A dozen editorial staffers, including several copy editors and Managing Editor Lois Norder, are the latest casualties in the daily's restructuring, according to Romanesko. Reportedly, Kathy Vetter, the paper's managing editor for digital, will be in charge of the paper's whole local news operation.

Judge Stiffs Daily on Autopsy Record Request

Sumter County Courthouse (Photo credit: Wikipedia)South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman has ruled against The (Sumter, S.C.) Item's request for the release of an autopsy report under the state's freedom of information act [S.C. Code of Laws 30-4-30], the Associated Press reports.

The Item is weighing whether to appeal Judge Newman's refusal to order the release of the autopsy report involving the shooting death of a 25-year-old man by police. Judge Newman said the autopsy report was a medical record, which is exempt under South Carolina's public records law.

Tribune Co. Bankruptcy Ordeal Ends: Whither Chicago Trib & LA Times?

(Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)It took three-and-a-half years and generated roughly $400 million in attorneys' fees, but Delaware U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin J. Carey last Friday signed off on the restructuring agreement that will enable the Tribune Co. to emerge from Chapter 11 insolvency (In re Tribune Co., Case No. 08-bk-13141), according to an article in the Hollywood Reporter.

The Tribune Co., which last year unloaded the NL Central Division cellar-dwelling Chicago Cubs (see "TUOL" posts 11/1/11, 3/29/10), is expected to divest itself of ownership of its newspaper division, which includes The Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun and Los Angeles Times. The Chicago-based media conglomerate's holdings, valued at an estimated $7 billion, include 23 television stations, such as WPIX in New York City and WGN in Chicago, nine dailies and several magazines.

Billionaire entrepreneur Sam Zell used a $13 billion leveraged buyout to acquire the Tribune Co., which entered bankruptcy in 2008. Senior creditors are the new owners, among them, Oaktree Capital Mgt., Angelo, Gordon & Co., and JP Morgan Chase & Co. (which in recent weeks has shown us how easy it is to lose $5.8 billion). The new dream team will need the FCC's blessings to transfer ownership of the entity's radio and television licenses.

Mass.Town Won't Disclose Discrimination Suit Settlement Terms to Newspaper

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)The (Brockton, Mass.) Enterprise will look to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to obtain the release of the terms of a settlement agreement involving a discrimination suit brought by a police officer against the town of West Bridgewater, Enterprise.com reports.

Forty-eight-year-old Thomas Richmond, a full-time West Bridgewater police officer, sued the town in federal court in 2010, alleging disability discrimination, defamation and emotional distress, among other claims. The parties reached a settlement in December 2011, of the suit against the town, its police chief and two other supervisory officers.

The town's administrator would not disclose the lump sum amount paid to Richmond in response to a request from the daily, citing an agreement between the plaintiff and the municipality's insurance company. Likewise, Richmond's counsel would not disclose the sum to the Enterprise, noting he was bound by a confidentiality agreement.

Nondisclosure provisions are commonplace in settlement agreements, but that doesn't change the nature of the underlying claim.  When such an agreement involves a public employee, the agreement is a public record, subject to the Commonwealth's Public Records Law (M.G.L. c. 66, sec. 10). "TUOL" will be surprised if the Commonwealth rules otherwise.

'Bought Out' Journalist Sues Paper for Fraud

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)Advance Publications-owned The Star-Ledger has been sued by former deputy business editor and Essex County (N.J.) Bureau Chief Philip Read for fraud, breach of contract and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing concerning his 2010 buyout, Romanesko.com reports.

Read, who joined the daily as deputy business editor in 1997, alleges that he was misled into accepting the voluntary buyout by purportedly being told editorial staffers would be pink-slipped if the paper didn't realize $10 million in savings, according to his complaint. As Bureau Chief, he was earning $109,000 in 2008 when he purportedly received memoranda from the Star-Ledger citing declining advertising revenues as the impetus for the daily needing 200 employees to accept buyouts.

According to his complaint, Read was told he would likely be laid off if he didn't take the buyout. He alleges the Star-Ledger did not achieve the $10 million cost reduction goal, yet did not layoff staff. (Disclosure: the tireless staff of "TUOL" grew up reading The Star Ledger once The Newark Evening News figuratively and literally folded.)

Education Reporter Needs Educatin' About Conflicts of Interest

(Photo credit: DC Public Library Commons)Carla Branch, Alexandria (Va.) News co-founder and education reporter, was paid $11,000 as a communications consultant by the Alexandria City Public Schools system while covering the district for the paper, according to rival publication The Alexandria Times and media Web site Romanesko.com.

Branch reportedly was paid $75 an hour to write press releases for the school district and to advise the superintendent about improving the district's image, tallying about 150 hours of work besides her Alexandria News Web site duties, the Times reported. The Times article states Branch disclosed her consultant work after she learned a competing paper was going to write a piece about her second job.

Branch claims she avoided any conflict of interest by signing a confidentiality agreement with the school district at the outset of their contract in which she promised not to use information obtained during her consulting duties for any other purpose.

Sadly, Branch misses the point. She may not be betraying any confidences to the Alexandra City Public Schools working as a consultant, but are her Alexandria News readers getting objective "full picture" coverage of the district's performance, blemishes and all? Can the same person who is writing press releases praising the district criticize the superintendent's decision making at the risk of her $75-an-hour fee spigot being turned off?

The staff of "TUOL" isn't going out on a limb in asserting that Branch is mired in an untenable conflict of interest situation.

Idaho Judge Orders Daily to Identify Anonymous Poster

(Photo credit: mMathab)Idaho First Judicial District Court Judge John P. Luster has ordered the Spokesman-Review to identify the anonymous blogger whose post offended Kootenai County Republican Party Chair Tina Jacobsen, the Spokesman-Review reports.

The pseudonymous almostinnocentbystander commented online under a photo of Jacobsen, questioning whether a purportedly missing $10,000 from the County's Central Committee was "stuffed inside Tina's blouse." The post was removed less than three hours after it first appeared.

Judge Luster rejected the daily's free speech argument in denying the paper's motion to quash the subpoena seeking identifying information about the unidentified blogger, noting that the First Amendment does not protect defamatory speech. Idaho lacks a shield law, but Judge Luster said such a statute was irrelevant because the editorial staffer overseeing the Spokesman-Review's online blog was performing as an administrator, rather than as a reporter, when he removed the offending comment.

Editor Gary Graham said the daily is weighing an appeal of Judge Luster's ruling, according to the
Spokesman-Review article.

UPDATE: Judge Withdraws from Facebook Privacy Case Day Before Settlement Hearing

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)United States District Court for the Northern District of California Judge Lucy H. Koh has recused herself without explanation from hearing Fraley v. Facebook (Case No. 5:11-cv-01726) the day before a scheduled settlement hearing, Reuters reports.

In a 38-page decision last year, Judge Koh denied the social media giant's motion to dismiss the putative class action suit based on Facebook's "Sponsored Story" Ads, finding the plaintiffs presented an actionable claim under California's Right of Publicity law [Calif. Civ. Code sec. 3344]. (See "TUOL" post 12/22/11.)

The parties reached a settlement under which Facebook purportedly would pay $20 million and users would have more of a say in how their personal information was used, according to the Reuters article.  The terms of any proposed resolution of the case, however, require the presiding judge's approval.

Scheduled dates to hear motions in the case were vacated by Judge Koh and she has asked that another judge take over the matter.

UPDATE: R.I. High Court Affirms Dismissal of Restaurateur's Defamation Suit

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)In Robert L. Burke et al. v. Katherine Gregg et al. (Case No. 2011-148), the Rhode Island Supreme Court this week upheld a trial court's dismissal of a restaurant owner's defamation suit against The Providence Journal and Citadel Broadcasting Co.-owned WPRO-AM (see "TUOL" post 3/26/10).

In the decision written by Associate Justice Francis X. Flaherty, the High Court ruled against Burke, owner of Providence's Pot au Feu restaurant, holding that the article at issue by Journal reporter Katherine Gregg was not susceptible to a defamatory meaning and that an epithet-laced rant by WPRO-AM talk show host Dan Yorke against Burke amounted to First Amendment-protected opinion based on underlying facts.

A lower court previously tossed Burke's suit, which arose from a Gregg article about a St. Patrick's Day "Murphy's Law Luncheon" roast hosted by Burke's restaurant and attended by pols and business leaders. The Journal article allegedly wrongly attributed to Burke that remarks at the event were "off the record." That led to a nasty exchange between Burke and Yorke on the latter's radio show in which Yorke allegedly called Burke a "punk," "stupid," and a "manipulative piece of garbage."

Such coarseness, however, is the life's blood of talk radio, which courts routinely dismiss as opinion and rhetorical hyperbole incapable of harming one's reputation. Regarding Gregg's article identifying Burke as wanting the luncheon proceedings off the record, Justice Flaherty could not "conceive of how these comments could reasonably be interpreted to have injuriously affected Burke's reputation, degraded him in society, or brought him into public hatred or contempt."

Restaurant owners know that when there's a disagreement, sometimes it's best to "comp" the check and move on.

Buzz Goes for a Spin

(Photo credit: matthetube)Spin, the 27-year-old alternative music magazine, has been acquired by music and celebrity Web site conglomerate Buzzmedia, the New York Times reports today.

Plagued like other periodicals by readers' changing habits and declining ad revenues, Spin has experienced over the past decade a drop in circulation from 530,000 to 460,000, based on Audit Bureau of Circulation figures cited in the Times article. The future of the print edition is uncertain, as Spin has bolstered its Web site and its Spin Play iPad app.

Buzzmedia operates music Web sites, including Sterogum and Idolator, as well as celebrity sites for the likes of Kim Kardashian, which may be reassuring to some.  Terms of the purchase were not disclosed.

UPDATE: Fired Star Columnist Sues Paper Over Plagiarism Allegations

(Photo credit: CoolValley)Almost a year after being terminated allegedly for multiple verbatim use of press releases in his writings without attribution, former Kansas City Star Metro columnist Steve Penn, 54, has sued the McClatchy Co.-owned daily for defamation, the Star reports.

Penn, a 31-year Star veteran who had written a Metro column since 2000, alleges in his complaint filed in Jackson County Circuit Court that reproducing press release content in articles without crediting the source was widespread, common practice at the daily. He alleges he was defamed by the Star and seeks $25,000 compensatory damages and punitive damages.

His former employer cited a dozen instances in which Penn purportedly used press release text without attribution. (See "TUOL" post 7/14/11.) The litigation is scheduled for mediation and a November hearing before Judge Ann Mesle, according to a Star article.

State Law School Clinic's Documents Exempt Under Open Records Law

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)In a 32-page opinion written by New Jersey Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner, the Garden State's High Court ruled that records from the Rutgers (University) Environmental Legal Clinic ("RELC") were not subject to being produced under the Open Public Records Act ("OPRA") [N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1].

In Sussex Commons Associates, LLC v. Rutgers (A-97-10; 067232), the Court held that notwithstanding that Rutgers University is a public institution, its law school clinics are not involved in governmental functions and therefore, OPRA is inapplicable. Outlet mall developer Sussex Commons sued for access to the law clinic's records to determine whether a competing entity was impeding Sussex Commons's efforts to secure mall tenants.

According to an Associated Press account,  since 2004, RELC has provided pro bono representation to two groups opposed to building a mall in Sussex County. OPRA requires that "government records shall be readily accessible...with certain exceptions, for the protection of the public interest."

Speaking Fee Story a Page-Turner

(Photo credit: RubyGoes)The Chicago Tribune is weighing its options regarding what action, if any, to take against Trib editorial board member and syndicated columnist Clarence Page, whose controversial speaking engagement in Paris last month purportedly violated the daily's code of editorial principles.

The 65-year-old Page, a Pulitzer Prize winning commentator and frequent panelist on The McLaughlin Group and The Chris Matthews Show, reportedly received travel expenses and a $20,000 appearance fee to deliver a three-minute speech at a rally supporting Mujahadin-e-Khalq (MEK), an Iranian group looking to vacate its slot on the U.S.-compiled list of foreign terrorist organizations, according to accounts by ProPublica and the Romanesko.com media Web site.

Although the Tribune allows some latitude to employees concerning paid speaking engagements, the paper requires editorial staffers to obtain management approval before accepting "buckraking" gigs. ProPublica reports Page has received payment for seven appearances over the past year-and-a-half.

The columnist is quoted as saying that he has not sought superiors' approval in more than three years regarding speaking appearances. A Tribune article claims Page had "misgivings" once he determined the Paris event was more than just a human rights rally and discussion about Iranian exiles, but delivered his remarks nonetheless.

Afghan Journalists Concerned Proposed Media Law Diminishes Press Freedoms

Taliban controlled area (Photo credit: Wikipedia)A proposed revised media law in Afghanistan could tighten the reins on Afghani journalists in the war-torn country and restrict access to foreign programming, press freedom supporters fear.

According to a Reuters wire story, the proposed revision of a media law enacted in 2009 would strengthen the influence over the media in Afghanistan by the 13-member High Media Council, which is overseen by the Culture Minister and whose ranks include a religious scholar. Nai, a media advocacy group, notes that the proposed law would impose limits on the percentage of foreign programming broadcast on state media and subject such programming to the High Media Council's "acknowledgement."

Media advocates are wary as the Kharzei government pursues peace negotiations with the decidedly media-unfriendly Taliban. Afghanistan receives poor marks from the Committee to Protect Journalists, which ranks the country seventh on its Impunity Index, reflecting Afghanistan's ineffectiveness in stanching the continued widespread killing of journalists.

UPDATE: High Court Won't Hear Media Cross-Ownership Rules Case

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)The U.S. Supreme Court last week without comment denied certiorari in the case of National Association of Broadcasters v. FCC (Docket No. 11-698), disappointing media outlets that sought to end restrictions on same-market ownership of television stations and newspapers.

Last year, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ordered the Federal Communications Commission to revise its media ownership rules after holding an FCC rule change in 2007 had run afoul of the notice and comment requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act ("APA") [5 U.S.C. sec. 551]. (See "TUOL" post 7/8/11.)

In 2007, the FCC tried to ease the three-decade-plus-old ban on cross-ownership of television stations and newspapers in the same market by a media company by permitting cross-ownership in the nation's 20 largest media markets provided that at least eight media outlets existed in the market to compete against such a multi-media company. The proscribed cross-ownership continued, however, after the Third Circuit found the FCC non-compliant with the APA, much to the chagrin of broadcasters who lamented that such ownership restrictions are an anachronism in the Internet age and unfair because other media platforms, such as satellite and cable, are exempt from the restrictions.

Euro On Your Own

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)The Unruly of Law will be on hiatus while its devoted staff takes an extended vacation and attempts through profligate spending to help a couple of European nations to weather the harsh economic times.  Any devoted readers who believe a Fox News story they hear during our absence have only themselves to blame.

The blog will resume July 2.

UPDATE: SLAPPing a Birther: Judge Tosses Defamation Suit Against Esquire

In a 20-page Memorandum of Decision in Joseph Farah et al. v. Esquire Magazine et al. (Case No. 11-cv-1179), United States District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Rosemary Collyer this week dismissed a defamation suit brought by a publisher and the author of a book questioning President Barack Obama's U.S. citizenship against Esquire magazine over a satirical post (see "TUOL" post 7/6/11).

Farah, creator of WorldNetDaily.com and political science Ph.D. and professed investigative reporter Jerome Corsi, author of Where's the Birth Certificate? The Case That Barack Obama Is Not Eligible to Be President, sued Esquire magazine and blog poster Mark Warren for defamation, false light invasion of privacy, interference with business relations and violation of the Lanham Act [15 U.S.C. sec. 1125(a)], seeking $285 million in actual, compensatory and punitive damages over a post in the Politics Blog of Esquire.com that appeared May 18, 2011.

The plaintiffs support the position of  the so-called "Birthers" who believe President Obama does not satisfy the requirement set forth in Article II, Sec. 1 of the U.S. Constitution that a president be a Natural born citizen or U.S. citizen. Soon after President Obama released his long-form birth certificate from Hawaii, Warren wrote a post headlined: BREAKING: Jerome Corsi's Birther Book Pulled from Shelves!. Two hours after his intial post, Esquire published another item noting that Warren's piece was intended as satire.

In her decision, Judge Collyer said the Lanham Act count was inapplicable because it covers only commercial speech, not non-commercial satirical content such as the Warren post. She granted the defendants' motion to dismiss the suit under Washington, D.C.'s anti-SLAPP ("Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation") statute enacted in 2010 [D.C. Code sec. 16-5501], which enables a party to fend off lawsuits filed by one side of a political or public policy debate in an attempt to stifle speech presenting an opposing view.

The judge noted that satire is protected First Amendment speech and that the blog post at issue was clearly satire because it was denoted as humor, contained an exaggerated, decidedly un-newslike headline sporting an exclamation point, and used the same siren logo employed by conservative blogger Matt Drudge. Judge Collyer also pointed out that Dr. Corsi himself had originally dismissed Warren's post as a poor attempt at satire.

The plaintiffs' attorney reportedly plans to appeal the dismissal.