A win for journalism

For journalists who prefer to report the news, rather than be the subject of it, this has been a difficult time. It is difficult to listen to our profession be disparaged and devalued by the president and many of those who do his bidding.

So perhaps we can be forgiven for celebrating one victory in recent days — and make no mistake the tossing out of a defamation suit filed by former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is a victory indeed for all of us who toil on the editorial pages.

Palin sued The New York Times which had erroneously said in an editorial that Palin’s political action committee back in 2011 had distributed a map depicting Democratic lawmakers beneath crosshairs prior to the shooting of Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords. In fact, the PAC-generated map depicted the

of those lawmakers (not the individuals) in crosshairs.

The June editorial about the shooting of U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise was quickly corrected.

But in the current highly charged atmosphere Palin was not appeased — not even close.

Federal Judge Jed Rakoff, sitting in Manhattan, ruled, “What we have here is an editorial, written and rewritten rapidly in order to voice an opinion on an immediate event of importance, in which are included a few factual inaccuracies somewhat pertaining to Mrs. Palin that are very rapidly corrected. Negligence this may be; but defamation of a public figure it plainly is not.”

Yes, mistakes happen. No one in this business likes to see that happen — a point the judge fully grasped. “Nowhere is political journalism so free, so robust, or perhaps so rowdy as in the United States,” he wrote. “In the exercise of that freedom, mistakes will be made, some of which will be hurtful to others.”

Palin’s lawyers, perhaps taking a cue from President Trump’s frequent references to the “failing” New York Times, insisted the “attack” on her was aimed at boosting sales.

The judge found “not a shred of factual support” for the claim. We feel forced to add the inconvenient truth that failed politicians rarely make for circulation-boosting copy.