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23 U. Mich. J.L. Reform 1 (1989-1990)
Libel Reform: An Appraisal

handle is hein.journals/umijlr23 and id is 11 raw text is: LIBEL REFORM: AN APPRAISALt C. Thomas Dienes* Today, I am going to talk about the law of libel. A major part of my work at U.S. News is prepublication review of U.S. News and World Report and The Atlantic. I make difficult decisions such as assessing the risk that the Ayatollah Khomeini might sue the magazine for libel. I am not sure if you can libel the Ayatollah, but be careful if you do-he has very potent reme- dies.1 I will not focus on the law of libel as it is practiced in Michigan or in other states today. Instead, I want to examine proposals for the total restructuring of defamation law. Perhaps in evaluating such proposed changes, we can better appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of existing libel law. In particular, I want to evaluate the Annenberg Project's pro- posed Libel Reform Act. In the winter of 1987-88, Northwestern University's Annenberg Program2 brought eleven persons to Washington, D.C. to discuss libel reform. They held very differ- t Originally delivered as the keynote address at a conference on The Media and the Law: New Legislation, Judicial Trends and Controversial Proposals for Reform, held at Wayne State University, March 11, 1989. Co-sponsored by the Detroit Bar Association, the Detroit Bar Foundation, the State Bar of Michigan and the Gannett Foundation, the conference focused on media access to government processes and documents and on libel legislation. I want to express my appreciation to Richard E. Rassell and Leonard M. Niehoff, associated with Butzel, Long, Gust, Klein & Van Zile, and other organizers of the conference for their invitation to address the group and for their hospitality. I also wish to thank Sandra S. Baron, Managing General Attorney, National Broadcasting Company and a panel member of the Annenberg Project; Professor Jerome Barron of George Washington University, National Law Center; and Professor Marc A. Franklin, Stanford Law School, who commented on a draft of this speech. * General Counsel, U.S. News & World Report; Professor of Law, George Washing- ton University, National Law Center (on leave); B.S. 1961, Loyola University, Chicago; J.D. 1964, Northwestern University; Ph.D. 1968, Northwestern University. 1. The Ayatollah died on June 3, 1989. The reference in the text to potent reme- dies is a reference to the order of Chemin that Moslems should assassinate Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses, and punish Viking Penguin, the publisher, and others involved in distributing the book. Chicago Tribune, June 4, 1989, at 1, col. 3. 2. The Annenberg Washington Program was established by Northwestern University in 1983. It seeks, through forums and research studies, to evaluate how communication technologies and public policies on communications affect American life. The Libel Re- form Project, conceived by the Program director Newton N. Minow, former FCC direc- tor, reflects the belief that the current libel system is not working well for anyone. It neither adequately protects First Amendment values nor provides plaintiffs with an ef- fective way to vindicate their damaged reputations. The Report of the Libel Reform Project of the Annenberg Washington Program, Proposal for the Reform of Libel Law 7

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