NY Times v Sullivan: What if the press couldn’t tell the truth?

Civics 101

NHPR

Society & Culture, Government, History

4.6 • 2.4K Ratings

🗓️ 25 February 2025

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When it comes to the protection of a free and fair press, there is one landmark Supreme Court case that sits at the top, and it is New York Times Company v Sullivan (1964). This case redefined libel in the United States and is cited in almost every defamation suit since, but its origin is in the Civil Rights Movement, when newspapers were sued to the brink of collapse for covering protests in the south. Taking us through libel, defamation, and "actual malice" are Ang Reidell, Director of Outreach and Curriculum at the Annenberg Public Policy Center, and Samantha Barbas, professor at the Iowa College of Law and author of Actual Malice: Civil Rights and Freedom of the Press in New York Times v. Sullivan. Click here to watch a fantastic documentary from Annenberg on the case. Quick note to teachers! Our guests are collaborating today! The first fifty teachers who join the Civics Renewal Network will receive a free copy of Samantha Barbas's book, click here to sign up and get yours today! CLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more! To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro. Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, everyone. We are in a new administration, which means we at Civics 101 are not getting a whole heck of a lot of sleep.
0:07.1	So I'll make this quick. It is our winter fundraiser. We have one item on offer this year. And it's my favorite so far.
0:14.7	It is a large, robust, beautiful black Civics 101 coffee mug that says,
0:22.2	Democracy is my cup of tea.
0:24.8	Because it sure is mine, even if this cup will probably only hold coffee.
0:29.4	The mug will be yours for a one-time $60 gift or $5 a month.
0:35.0	Click the link in the show notes to check it out.
0:37.1	We are so grateful for your support.
0:40.1	Like, really, really.
0:47.8	Santa, you saw this in, it was it fourth grade?
0:50.8	Third or fourth, yeah.
0:52.3	I know you were eight, but can you describe what you saw?
0:55.6	Yeah, this is footage from a civil rights protest in Birmingham, Alabama, in I think the early
1:01.8	60s.
1:03.0	Students were marching to protest segregation in their city.
1:06.2	They were marching peacefully.
1:07.9	A thousand kids walking from a church, holding hands, singing. The police told them
1:13.6	to disperse, the kids did not, and the police sprayed the children with fire hoses. They set
1:20.0	dogs on them. What had seen that so young do to you?
1:30.4	It made me sick. I think I was just sitting there slack-jod.
1:35.5	I was watching something where there was no political middle.
1:39.8	This is, you know, right and wrong, right in front of your eyes.
	...

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