McNamara v. Koehler

1. The Fair Report Privilege 6

¶ 13 Washington recognizes the fair report privilege-a conditional privilege that protects a republisher of a statement "when the original defamatory statement was made in the course of an official public proceeding or contained in an official public record." Herron v. Tribune Publ'g Co., 108 Wash.2d 162, 179, 736 P.2d 249 (1987). The purpose of the fair report privilege "is to serve the public's interest 'in having information made available to it as to what occurs in official proceedings and public meetings.' " Herron, 108 Wash.2d at 179, 736 P.2d 249 (quoting…