Complete this exercise offline and then either e-mail or hand the exercise in to your instructor.
Assume that you have just written an article critical of a state senator in your area. You misinterpreted the facts on which you based the story. There is no doubt; the story is not accurate. You made a mistake—but it was not intentional. The story contains a defamatory falsehood. This is extremely unfortunate because the state senator is your personal friend. You are embarrassed, and he is irritated. Friendship aside, he sues you and your newspaper for libel. What would be possible defenses? Would you have a good chance of successfully defending against the libel action?
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