Journalism School

This is a shot of the senior college class of the Journalism School at the International Business & Technology Zokhiomj Institute here in the UB.  My lecture was on how to avoid criminal or civil charges of defamation as they investigate corruption in government and business.  In Mongolia where the journalist gets little protection from litigation, this is no small task. 

The students except for the one on the far right were attentive and took good notes.  In the last twelve years in Mongolia there have been 300 civil defamation suits and only 16 criminal cases.  But the criminal cases were all brought because a public official became upset about a story which harmed his reputation.  Here in Mongolia, if the defendant cannot prove that the story is true, the defendant loses and is convicted, regardless of fault. Not so in the U.S. but this is an unwelcome vestige from Mongolia's  Soviet past.  In other words there is a strict liability standard extant here so let the reporter beware.  This means that you cannot do a story simply based upon one source but must confirm the truth of the story by multiple sources or documents and you must tape all sources so if they later under pressure change their story, you can protect yourself and your story. If the story cannot be absolutely proven, then do not publish.

Also, make your story balanced by, for example, always ask the target if he or she has a comment on the story.  If he or she denies the story then inquire how you can establish his or her position. Seek witnesses or documents re same.  If he refuses comment, put that in the story.  If they give you their version of the events, always put them into the story and quote directly or summarize their position.

As I say, if they follow my advice they will avoid liability.  Many times if you give the target the opportunity to address the charge there will be no litigation, but if they still persist then the rules above will keep you safe.  And so it goes...