George Freeman and Lee Levine, The Washington Post, March 8, 2022, cite a comprehensive study of Times v. Sullivan by the Media Law Resource Center that mounts a staunch defense in favor of keeping Sullivan in place. Freeman and Levine write that there has been an increase in libel lawsuits brought by politicians, officials and corporate figures, not usually for injury to reputation or loss of earnings but to punish the media for speaking the truth. With the decrease in the number of news outlets in the U.S., it would not serve democracy if reporters were deterred from investigating corruption because of the threat of libel suits.
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