What
10 -
then is "false
news"?
What is true news
unfortunately can be proved to be false news ev en in a criminal
court on the high standard of proof required, namely, beyond
reasonable doubt. All it takes is for the
government concerned
to send somebody to the witness box to say that there was no
substance in the reports published by the newspaper concerned.
And So long as the truth rema ins
hidden, the news would be
"false".
decide not to risk
news
But the point to emphasize is that there need not be
any actual prosecution in such a case.
For if there is such a
law, publishers and many journalists may
prosecution and imprisonment by publishing such sensitive
at all. If so,
the truth will never be told. Of course some
publishers and journalists in similar circumstances may decide
that they owe it to the public to publish the news and face
criminal prosecutions. In such cases, at least the news would
have been published, followed by a prosecution and conviction.
And this may or may not lead to a public enquiry about the
conduct of the government
If there is such a
public enquiry as in Watergate and Irangate, the newspapers would finally be vindicated although at great personal price to
the brave publisher and journalist concerned. But if no public
enquiry is held because the publicity given by such report is
nibbed in the bud before it could gather sufficient public
support, then the publisher and journalist would have paid a
in question.