Day 052 - 21 Nov 94 - Page 14
1 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Duncan and Neil, which I will also lend you.
2 Perhaps read 4.12 as well because that refers to
3 "headlines".
4
5 MR. RAMPTON: Yes, I will. "In order to determine the natural
6 and ordinary meaning of the words of which the plaintiff
7 complains it is necessary to take into account the context
8 in which the words were used and the mode of publication.
9 Thus a plaintiff cannot select an isolated passage in an
10 article and complain of that alone if other parts of the
11 article throw a different light on that passage. As
12 Alderson B said in Chalmers v. Payne: 'If in one part of
13 the publication something disreputable to the plaintiff is
14 stated, but that is removed by the conclusion, the bane and
15 the antidote must be taken together.'
16
17 Indeed, in some, though rare, cases the defamatory sting of
18 a passage may be removed by that which precedes or follows
19 it. This question was examined by the Court of Appeal of
20 New South Wales in Morosi v. Broadcasting Station 2GB, Pty
21 Ltd, where it was argued that the discreditable assertions
22 complained of were made only for the purpose of vigorously
23 refuting them."
24
25 My Lord, I will not read, if your Lordship will forgive me,
26 the passage from the judgment in that case? I will read
27 4.12:
28
29 "The natural and ordinary meaning of words may be affected
30 not only by adjacent passages but also by the mode of
31 publication; for example, by the prominence which is given
32 to the words by their position in the newspaper or
33 magazine, or by the emphasis which is provided by the type
34 and heading employed. This point was explained in English
35 and Scottish Co-operative Properties Mortgage and
36 Investment Society Ltd v. Odhams Press Ltd, where the
37 plaintiff society complained of a report in a newspaper
38 under the heading: 'False profit return charge against
39 society'. Slesser L.J. said:
40
41 'Stopping at that heading, what does the word "false"
42 convey to the ordinary reader? In the dictionary sense the
43 word "false" may mean, untrue, dishonest or it may have the
44 meaning, and I think the mor ordinary meaning, of mistaken
45 or inaccurate or untrue without any moral obliquity'."
46 My Lord, pausing there, one could with appropriate
47 substitution of the words rewrite that sentence so as to
48 apply to the words "link" and "cause".
49
50 "'But I do not think this is the type of case ... where one
51 has to seek for the evil meaning and discard the innocent
52 meaning. I think the ordinary reader would assume that the
53 word "false" in this context, and stated with this imprint,
54 meant fraudulent. I think one may take into consideration
55 .... "the manner and the occasion of the publication".
56 This article is published in a popular newspaper. If the
57 words "false profit" in a popular newspaper mean that which
58 is merely untrue in the technical sense that a sum has been
59 attributed to profit which, being the proceeds of sale of
60 freehold land, technically should not have been so called,
