‘The press best judge of news’

Press, 20 June 1984, Page 27

‘The press best judge of news’

NZPA-AP Albany, New York Ruling that the press can best judge what news is of legitimatee public concern, New York’s highest court

has dismissed a JNZI.9 million libel lawsuit against the “New York Daily News.”

The Court of Appeals ruled unanimously in the newspaper’s favour in the suit filed by a woman mentioned in an article about the transfer of 50,000 patients from state mental hospitals to nursing homes. “The decision appears to give the news media broad new protection against libel lawsuits in New York involving events the media consider newsworthy,” said Frank McDermott, lawyer for the woman, Catherine Gaeta.

Articles of legitimate public concern have greater protection against libel lawsuits than do other articles under New York law. Mr McDermott said he would consider an appeal to the Federal courts after studying the decision. However, the “Daily News” lawyer, Michael Mukasey, said it appeared the decision was based strictly on state law so that it could not be appealed against to any Federal court. Mr Mukasey said he could not comment further on the decision until he read it.

The Court of Appeals said an article written in 1977 by a “Daily News” reporter, Marcia Kramer, was not grossly irresponsible. In an earlier decision, the Court had ruled that when an article was arguably within the sphere of legitimate public concern, a person could not win a libel

suit unless he showed the article was prepared with gross irresponsibility. The press, acting responsibly, and not the courts, must make the decisions as to what were matters of genuine public concern, the Court said. The decision overturned lower court rulings that said

Ms Gaeta could sue the “Daily News” and Ms Kramer for allegedly libelous statements about her, in an article about the' patient transfer. Ms Gaeta's former husband (a former mental patient) and the couple’s divorce were mentioned in the article.