Jonathan Jones, instructor in communications and director of the N.C. Open Government Coalition, offered insights for the article, "A daily's loss in court may cause journalists to rethink how they communicate."
A recent examination of the impact of mulitimillion-dollar libel lawsuit involving the News & Observer of Raleigh by the Columbia Journalism Review included analysis by Jonathan Jones, instructor in communications at Elon and director of the N.C. Open Government Coalition.
The libel case followed a series by the News & Observer that focused on the work of a state firearms investigator, with the jury finding for the investigator and ordering the News & Observer to pay nearly $6 million in damages. Writing for the CJR, Corey Hutchins explored how the current unpopularity of the media with the public could translate into less-sympathetic jury pools in libel cases.
“Any time a newspaper is taking a case to a jury it’s risky,” Jones, who teaches media law at Elon, told the CJR. “And especially in sort of the current climate of public distrust in the media—and in some cases even public disgust in the media—I think it’s a particularly risky time to be going to court with these.”
Read the full article here.