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,

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