Floyd v. Atlanta Newspapers, Inc.

102 Ga. App. 840 (1960)

117 S.E.2d 906

FLOYD

v.

ATLANTA NEWSPAPERS, INC.

38223.

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

Decided December 1, 1960.

Rehearing Denied December 15, 1960.

F. H. Boney, Archibald A. Farrar, for plaintiff in error.

B. P. Gambrell, John E. Dougherty, contra.

TOWNSEND, Presiding Judge.

1. "At common law, it was not necessary that written or printed defamatory words should charge a crime in order to make them actionable, but it was sufficient if they tended to bring a man into public hatred, contempt, or ridicule. . . The definition of libel recognized at common law has been adopted by statute…