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Originally Posted by Cardus

It is the 1964 Supreme Court decision that sets the federal standard for defamation, be it libel (fixed medium, like print) or slander (spoken).

It established that for someone who is judged to be a "public figure" or "limited public figure" -- the status to which Dutrow would be assigned -- to be defamed, there must be "acutal malice" or a reckless disregard for the truth by the potential defamer. The fact that something is true is called an absolute defense against defamation.

It came out of the Alabama court system. A county official sued the New York Times, but the court decided that the New York Times had not violated the standards it set forth.

I did not want to get into an argument with the operator of the board so I let it go but there is no way the radio station could be held liable for a radio interview in which claims like these were made, now maybe allday could but not the radio station, or a television station or a newspaper.