Reporter not public figure
The Utah Supreme Court held yesterday that a former Salt Lake City broadcast news reporter is not a public figure for the purpose of her defamation claim against her former employer, KTVX (ABC, ch. 4). After Holly Wayment left the TV station in 2002, her former boss allegedly told people that she had been terminated because she was using her status as a reporter, including receiving money from news sources, to "start a foundation."
The Utah Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment in favor of the station's news director but reversed summary judgment with respect to the assistant news director. So Wayment's defamation claim against the assistant news director (and the station) can go forward.
I will perhaps comment more on this opinion later, once I have had a chance to digest it more fully. Right now, though, I have to go administer a final exam in a Media Law, Ethics and Responsibility course.
The Utah Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment in favor of the station's news director but reversed summary judgment with respect to the assistant news director. So Wayment's defamation claim against the assistant news director (and the station) can go forward.
I will perhaps comment more on this opinion later, once I have had a chance to digest it more fully. Right now, though, I have to go administer a final exam in a Media Law, Ethics and Responsibility course.
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