George C. Reeves v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., Roone Arledge, and Everett Erlick v. Joseph O. Giaimo, Counterclaim-Defendant

IRVING R. KAUFMAN, Circuit Judge:

A nation which prizes free expression must support lofty sentiment with mean ingful legislation. The noble guarantee against laws abridging the freedom of the press, enshrined in the First Amendment, would be incongruous indeed, were any federal or state statutes to punish a journalist for accurately reporting allegations of wrongdoing in a matter of public interest. We said in Edwards v. National Audubon Society, Inc., 556 F.2d 113, 115 (2d Cir.1977), an unfettered press “must be the most cherished tenet” of a self-governing society. Since New York Times v.…