Central New Jersey Jewish Home for the Aged v. New York Times Co.

QUACKENBOSS, J. S. C.

This controversy arose in the course of pretrial discovery. It may have interest beyond the perimeters of this lawsuit because it involves the confrontation between press freedom and the right of a defamation plaintiff to elicit information critical in *447most such cases. The collision of these valued interests is occurring with increasing frequency in libel actions.

The case was instituted by Central New Jersey Jewish Home for the Aged and its Director, Elliot Solomon. They allege they were defamed in an article which appeared in the New York Times on December 16, 1979 and…