backdoor view: Can Media Be Legally Liable For Worsening Economic Crisis?

Saturday, January 03, 2009

Can Media Be Legally Liable For Worsening Economic Crisis?

By Noel Sheppard via newsbusters

If exaggerated reports of global economic distress act to further dampen consumer confidence and actually worsen the situation, can press outlets be held legally liable?

Such was espoused by a corporate lawyer Thursday in response to a poll that found 77 percent of Americans " think the financial press is making the economic crisis worse by projecting fear into people's minds

The survey question: "Do you think the financial press is making the economic crisis worse by projecting fear into people's minds?" While the overall response indicated that 77% of Americans answered YES, here are highlights of note: Household Incomes: $25k - $35k -- 79% answered YES $35k - $50k -- 88% answered YES $50k - $75k -- 76% answered YES $75k - more -- 78% answered YES Demographics: 85% of young adults (18-24 yrs old) answered YES 77% of males and females alike answered YES 65% of blacks answered YES Richard L. Scheff, a national expert on corporate liability and white collar crime issues, warns media that they could potentially be exposed to liability despite apparent constitutional protections:

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Ronald Reagan's Thoughts in quotes

"Man is not free unless government is limited."

"Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty."

“The cultural environment for a human holocaust is present whenever any society can be misled into defining individuals as less than human and therefore devoid of value and respect.”

"Abraham Lincoln recognized that we could not survive as a free land when some men could decide that others were not fit to be free and should therefore be slaves. Likewise, we cannot survive as a free nation when some men decide that others are not fit to live and should be abandoned to abortion or infanticide."

"I notice that all those people who favor abortion have already been born."

"We should measure welfare's success by how many people leave welfare, not by how many are added."

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same."

"Welfare's purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence."

"Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged."

"Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves."

"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."

"The problem is not that people are taxed too little, the problem is that government spends too much."

"Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the democrats believe every day is April 15."

"I've never been able to understand why a Republican contributor is a 'fat cat' and a Democratic contributor of the same amount of money is a 'public-spirited philanthropist'."

"Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

"Without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure."

"They say the world has become too complex for simple answers. They are wrong."

"Don't be afraid to see what you see." Ronald Reagan