Silence isn’t defamatory. In fact, it’s the truth.
Katie Couric is celebrating that conclusion of a Virginia federal judge, who tossed out a lawsuit against the veteran journalist.
Couric and others involved in the documentary “Under the Gun” were sweating a $13 million defamation suit by the Virginia Citizens Defense League.
The group alleged that being shown fidgeting and not answering a question for 8 seconds was “manipulated footage” that “falsely informed viewers that the VCDL members had been stumped and had no basis for their position on background checks.”
But U.S. District Court Judge John Gibney Jr. on Wednesday shot down the suit and granted a motion to dismiss.
“The plaintiffs’ defamation claims fail because the interview scene is not false,” Gibney wrote. “’Under the Gun’ portrays members of the VCDL not answering the question posed by Couric. In reality, members of the VCDL did not answer the question posed by Couric. They talked about background checks and gun laws generally, but did not answer the question of how to prevent felons or terrorists from purchasing guns without background checks. The editing simply dramatizes the sophistry of the VCDL members.”
(Couric had asked: “If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from purchasing a gun?”)
“In this case,” the judge wrote, “the footage does not, on its face, carry the defamatory sting required by Virginia law. The plaintiffs allege four defamatory meanings implied by the film: that they (1) have no basis for their opposition to background checks; (2) are uninformed notwithstanding their expertise in the areas of gun regulations and rights; (3) were stumped by Couric’s question; and (4) are ignorant or unfit in their trades.
“The first two alleged defamatory implications do not arise from the film. The film does not suggest that they do not have a basis to oppose background checks or are ignorant about gun regulations and rights. Rather, the film makes a different point about the effect of existing regulations on how to keep guns out of the wrong hands.”