Pearson v. Fairbanks Publishing Co.

DIMOND, Justice.

This is a libel action brought by appellant against appellees. The case was tried by the court without a jury. Judgment was entered in favor of appellees and appellant brought this appeal.

Appellant is a newspaper columnist and author of a widely circulated, syndicated and copyrighted daily column entitled “Washington Merry-Go-Round”. Prior to August 1, 1958 appellant’s column was published in appellee’s newspaper, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

On July 7, 1958 appellant’s column dealt with Alaska’s effort to achieve statehood. 1 It described the then Governor of Alaska, Mike…