“..believing the reports of the media”
Ya know...I wonder if there can be “journalistic malpractice” ...whereby those damaged by the active perversion of factual content(negligence of the truth) by a reporter or news organization may have a claim...
“I wonder if there can be “journalistic malpractice” ...whereby those damaged by the active perversion of factual content(negligence of the truth) by a reporter or news organization may have a claim...”
There is a legal remedy. The tort is called “libel” if the untruth is in written form, and “slander” if the untruth is spoken. I do not believe journalists are immune from prosecution, if they willingly repeat a known or provable falsehood. The issue typically depends on whether a defendant “could have reasonably known,” or “should have known” that the libelous or slanderous accusation was a falsehood. A jury need only find a preponderance of the evidence in favor of the claimant—to wit: 51 percent. The only defense is if the allegation can be proven true.
I would very much like to see the day when journalists are hauled to court and sued. The damage they inflict on an individual’s or other entity’s reputations is never repaired, even when they issue their so-called “retraction.”