The state Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal dealing with the news media’s “fair report” privilege. The decision announced Friday prompted commentary from four of the seven justices, including one who wrote that a colleague’s claims were “a bit unhinged.”
A man is dropping his NC Supreme Court appeal in a case challenging a Triangle television station’s reliance on the “fair report privilege.” A settlement in the case means the state’s highest court will not have to tackle the First Amendment issue. The case had been scheduled for oral arguments on Nov. 7.
Triangle television station WTVD defends its reliance on a “fair report privilege” to protect it against a lawsuit involving a false report from the Wake County Sheriff’s Department. The TV station filed a brief Wednesday with the N.C. Supreme Court.
A man who says he was fired from his nursing assistant’s job after a false television news report hopes the N.C. Supreme Court will revive his lawsuit against the Triangle TV station. The suit challenges the station’s reliance on the “fair report privilege.”
The N.C. Supreme Court will hear two high-profile COVID-related cases in the months ahead. One deals with the forced shutdown of an Alamance County speedway. The other targets student fees paid at the University of North Carolina’s flagship universities when they were closed for in-person instruction.
