03/07/06

Study: Media organizations sued less but pay more in damages

NEW YORK (AP) -- Media organizations were sued less often and won more lawsuits in the past five years than they did in previous decades, but they paid more on average in damages when they lost, according to a media monitoring organization.

In a study that has been ongoing since 1980, the Media Law Resource Center found that media organizations have successfully defended themselves in 53.8 percent of the lawsuits filed against them so far this decade.

They won 36.3 percent of the lawsuits filed against them in the 1980s and 40.2 percent of the lawsuits filed against them in the 1990s, the center said.

Media organizations were sued about half as many times between 2000 and 2005 as they were in the '80s, the study found. Fourteen suits were brought in 2005, just above the average of 13.8 so far this decade, which reflects a downward trend from an average of 27 in the '80s and 18.8 in the '90s.

"This is good news for those who understand the threat posed to free speech and press from the enormous time and expense of these kinds of lawsuits," Executive Director Sandra Baron said.

Of the 14 suits brought in 2005, media organizations won half. In losing cases, they paid an average of $369,000 in damages.

The year 2005 was an unusually forgiving one in terms of damages, which have moved upward from an average of more than $1.5 million in the '80s to $2.8 million so far this decade.

The survey reflects a total of 531 trial lawsuits since 1980. The center said 87.6 percent of the lawsuits accused defendants of defamation.

The New York-based center is a nonprofit organization established by media groups to monitor trends and promote First Amendment rights.