View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Media Law
June 16, 2010

Lynn Barber libel victory ‘raises bar’ for claimants

By Dominic Ponsford

Lawyers for the Daily Telegraph said today that a legal victory for the paper over a Lynn Barber review has raised the bar for claimants who sue for libel.

Justice Tugendhat today dismissed a libel claim made by Dr Sarah Thornton against the Telegraph over a review written by Barber in November, 2008 of her book Seven Days in the Art World.

Thornton sued over a section in which Lynn Barber said she had given her interviewees “copy approval”, meaning that they had the right to read what she had written about them for the book and alter it.

Issue was also taken by Thornton over part of the review where Barber said Thornton had wrongly listed her among one of the 250 people she had conducted hour-long interviews with for the book.

In his judgment today Justice Tugendhat notes that Thornton “appears to share the view” that “giving copy approval is something to be disapproved of”.

He added: “In my judgement, if read by itself, the first paragraph containing the copy approval allegation is not capable of being a personal libel. It is not capable of meaning that Dr Thornton had done anything which in ordinary language could be highly reprehensible, or reprehensible at all…”

In his judgment Tugendhat said the “threshold of seriousness” in libel needed to be raised. Referring to the Jameel versus Dow Jones case, considered a benchmark libel ruling, Tugenhat said the word “substantially” should be inserted into the definition of libel used in it.

Content from our partners
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it
Impress: Regulation, arbitration and complaints resolution

Tugendhat said that the definition quoted in the Jameel case, and which he applied to the Thornton case, is that: “The publication of which he [Jameel] complains may be defamatory to him because it [substantially] affects in an adverse manner the attitude of other people towards him, or has a tendency so to do.”

A spokesman for David Price Solicitors and Advocates, which represented the Telegraph, said Tugendhat had concluded that for a libel claim to be successful “not just that the words complained of must impute some detriment to the claimant in the estimation of right-thinking members of society, but also that there must be a substantial effect on the claimant in order to deem a publication defamatory”.

The spokesman added: “Inclusion of the word ‘substantially’ is crucial and is likely to set a higher bar for defamation cases in future.”

Topics in this article :

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network