Westmoreland v. CBS

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Westmoreland v. CBS was a $120 million libel suit brought by William Westmoreland against CBS Television for the televising of a documentary entitled The Uncounted Enemy: A Vietnam Deception, narrated by the investigative reporter, Mike Wallace. It was shown on January 23, 1982.[1] This case was a follow-up to the landmark New York Times Co. v. United States decision, which held that the government must meet a high standard of proof before it can violate the First Amendment by restraining the right to publish (prior restraint).[2] The suit was originally filed in a state court but was transferred to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The trial ended in February of 1985 when the case was settled out of court just before it would have gone to the jury.[3]

Contents

[edit] Circumstances

General William C. Westmoreland served four years, from 1964 to 1968, as commander of the U.S. military forces in Vietnam. He was in command during the Tet Offensive, a surprise attack on the U.S. forces by the combined forces of the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam and the Vietnam People's Army in 1968. At the time the U.S. response was seen as a failure in U.S. tactics partly because the U.S. underestimated the numbers of opposition forces and there was heavy loss of life. The documentary primarily blamed Westmoreland, as commanding general at the time, claiming he participated in a conspiracy to cover up estimates of troop strength.[2] However, Westmoreland believed the documentary portrayed him inaccurately and unfairly, and decided to sue CBS for libel.[4]

The case was influenced by a libel suit by a prominent Israeli military figure, Ariel Sharon, against Time Magazine for publishing an article that accused Sharon of pressuring Lebanese militia forces to massacre Palestinians in 1982. Sharon sued Time in November of 1984 and January 25, 1985 the jury returned a verdict of not guilty while Westmoreland v. CBS was in progress. The jury stated that Time acted "negligently and carelessly" but did not find evidence of actual malice.[2]

[edit] Trial

Although CBS claimed that they believed the evidence in the documentary to be true, Westmoreland charged that the investigators asked biased and slanted questions, selectively edited interviews (for example, giving a two-minute excerpt of a 90-minute interview and portraying that selection as representative) and selectively chose persons to interview supportive of CBS's point of view. He also charged CBS with editing interview tapes dishonestly and taking statements out of context. Westmoreland charged CBS with reckless misstatements of evidence and contended these distortions indicated malice.[5]

The trial began on October 9, 1984. CBS made a motion for a summary judgment, claiming immunity from libel for doing a commentary on a public figure under the precedent established in New York Times v. Sullivan. At the onset, the presiding judge ruled that under New York Times Co. v. United States and the First Amendment Westmoreland, as a public figure, must prove by "clear and convincing evidence" that CBS acted with intentional malice in gathering the evidence and putting it together in the documentary. This is legally a heavy burden of proof and a much higher standard than a nonpublic figure would need to sue for defamation.[5]

Westmoreland agreed to settle his case out of court on February 18, 1985, before going to the jury, just a few weeks after Sharon lost his case. Each side agreed to pay their own legal fees but Westmoreland received no compensatory damages.[2][5]

[edit] Significance

Any public figure seeking damages for libel must follow the stringent standards set in the precedent of New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. A public figure must prove actual malice in a libel suit, even in the face of strong evidence of media misconduct.[2]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ The Uncounted Enemy: The Vietnam Deception. The Museum of Broadcast Communication. Retrieved on 2007-11-13.
  2. ^ a b c d e Christianson, Stephen G (1994). Great American Trials. Detroit, MI: Visible Ink Press, 738-740. ISBN 0-8103-9134-1. 
  3. ^ Vietnam: A Documentary Collection - Westmoreland v CBS. Retrieved on 2007-11-13.
  4. ^ The Tet Offensive: Intelligence failure in war. Cornell University Press (1994). Retrieved on 2007-11-13.
  5. ^ a b c Westmorland v. CBS - further readings. Retrieved on 2007-11-13.

[edit] External links