Brown v. Kelly Broadcasting Co.

Opinion

EAGLESON, J.

The sole issue in this case is whether Civil Code section 47, subdivision 3, affords a broad privilege, sometimes referred to as a “public-interest privilege,” to the news communications industry (news media) to make false statements regarding a private individual.

Section 47(3) provides a privilege to communications made without malice on occasions in which the speaker and the recipient of the communication share a common interest. Defendants (a television station and its reporter) and several amici curiae argue that when the news media publish and broadcast matters of…