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It doesn't matter how strongly you believe in your work. The law (at least in the United States) is "innocent until proven guilty". Until it goes to court, the
by alborzb 5y ago
It doesn't matter how strongly you believe in your work.
The law (at least in the United States) is "innocent until proven guilty". Until it goes to court, they are presummed innocent.
The phrase "alleged" is put in to all reputable journalists work because they follow the law.
- hkt 5y agoInnocent until proven guilty is more of a criminal trials thing. Balance of probabilities applies for libel. I'm not in the US, but suspect it is similar to the UK where reporters will use "alleged" if they're using the legal defence of "qualified privilege" - which allows them to repeat potentially libellous allegations without themselves being sued for libel. In the case of reporting on documents (especially those made public in legal filings) the documents themselves are subject to privilege, so the journalists don't need to use qualified privilege. Source: passed my media law exams in the UK.
- alborzb 5y agoThank you for explaining this in an easy to understand way, my understanding all this time up until now (I'm also in the UK) was that until allegations get proven in court, they are only allegations! I guess there are different standards for criminal and libel trials
- kixiQu 5y ago"Presumed innocent" refers to the government not being supposed to punish an unconvicted defendant beyond what's practically necessary for safety (though reading up on pre-trial detention is... illuminating). It does not mean if we look at Jason Voorhees covered in blood that we all have to say "well, he's not yet gone to trial, so it's really only an allegation of murder."