Curtin University Homepage
  • Library
  • Help
    • Admin

    espace - Curtin’s institutional repository

    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
    View Item 
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item

    Defamatory meanings and the hazards of relying on the ‘ordinary, reasonable person’ fiction

    Access Status
    Fulltext not available
    Authors
    Fernandez, Joseph
    Date
    2017
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citation
    Fernandez, J. 2017. Defamatory meanings and the hazards of relying on the ‘ordinary, reasonable person’ fiction. Pacific Journalism Review. 23 (1): pp. 207-224.
    Source Title
    Pacific Journalism Review
    ISSN
    1023-9499
    School
    Department of Journalism
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/56175
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    © 2017, Pacific Media Centre, Auckland University of Technology. All rights reserved. Defamation law offers a remedy when the plaintiff’s reputation is harmed by something the defendant publishes. At the heart of the action lies the question—what do the words complained about actually mean? The process of determining defamatory meaning depends heavily on what the court finds to be the imputations conveyed by the matter concerned to ‘ordi­nary, reasonable people’. The process relies on assumption and conjecture, rather than on evidence. This article examines how this process applied in the Hockey v Fairfax Media case brought by Australia’s former Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey against Fairfax Media, which presented a paradox—the court described the journalists’ articles concerned in glowing terms but still found for the plaintiff.

    Advanced search

    Browse

    Communities & CollectionsIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument TypeThis CollectionIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument Type

    My Account

    Admin

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    Follow Curtin

    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 

    CRICOS Provider Code: 00301JABN: 99 143 842 569TEQSA: PRV12158

    Copyright | Disclaimer | Privacy statement | Accessibility

    Curtin would like to pay respect to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of our community by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which the Perth campus is located, the Whadjuk people of the Nyungar Nation; and on our Kalgoorlie campus, the Wongutha people of the North-Eastern Goldfields.