DeSantis wrong on libel law and anonymous sources | Guestview

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to revamp Florida’s libel laws to make it easier for public figures in Florida to sue news outlets and limit the media’s use of anonymous sources.

DeSantis floated those ideas at a Feb. 7 roundtable, which included panelists claiming to be “victims” of media misconduct. Their stories are outliers considering the long history of the media balancing their roles as watchdogs on government and business with their duty to protect the privacy and reputation of people they cover.

Because libel is a state issue rather than a federal one, the laws vary among the 50 states, but overarching principles were established by the 1964 Supreme Court case, New York Times v. Sullivan.

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The case established the rule that public officials suing for libel must meet a higher standard than private persons. The term “actual malice” means the defendant knew (or should have known) of the falsity of a story but published or broadcast it anyway. In contrast, private persons need only to establish negligence or “sloppy reporting.”

The court determined that alleged libel was a natural byproduct of free speech and should be tolerated as something that results from the “heated exchange of public debate.” The case soon became as important to libel law as Roe v. Wade was to abortion and Brown v. Board of Education was to school integration.

The Sullivan case dealt specifically with elected and appointed public officials, but later cases expanded the idea using the term "public figures,” which included public officials but also well-known entertainers and professional athletes. The court ruled that public figures are obligated to accept criticism as part of their positions and should be successful in libel cases only in extreme circumstances, i.e. actual malice.

The reasoning behind that idea was that public officials, entertainers and athletes entered their fields voluntarily and put themselves in the line of fire for public scrutiny and criticism, rather fair or not. The general idea is that in exchange for fame and money, entertainers and athletes must accept some unpleasant media coverage as part of their job description. Politicians don't enjoy the same amount of money, but they do have power, and that makes them fair targets.

In a 1995 television interview, Justice Antonin Scalia quipped that “In our society, celebrities enjoy a very good life. The only thing we ask in return is that they grow an extra layer of thick skin.”

DeSantis told the roundtable audience that anonymous sources should be viewed as presumptively false, but he was wrong when he talked about anonymous sources as though they were a new phenomenon. In truth, they have been around for more than a century, and during that time their usage has waxed and waned.

Today, not only is the use of anonymous sources on the decline, but they are seldom used as the main sources for stories. Instead, they are used mainly to corroborate information obtained from on-the-record sources. In addition, most media outlets have policies in place to prevent anonymous sources from being over-used or mis-used.

Without anonymous sources, scandals like Watergate (early 1970s), the fraud associated with Hurricane Katrina relief funds (2005-06) and the deplorable conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (2007) would not have been uncovered.

Erroneous news stories can occasionally be traced back to anonymous sources, but I know that producing good journalism would be more difficult without them. I also know that the libels laws of Florida — and those of the other 49 states — are fine just the way they are.

Dr. Randy Bobbitt is a retired journalism professor at the University of West Florida and an author of 11 books on media law, media ethics, politics and popular culture.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: DeSantis wrong on libel law and anonymous sources | Guestview