Libel Litigation and Its Impact on Journalists' Exercise of Freedom of Expression at Two Newspaper Publications in Kenya

Abstract

In countries that espouse the rule of law, interpersonal communication has to contend with legislation and ethical codes that allow for freedom of expression with limits. One such legal limit to expressive freedom is respect for the reputation of others. Courts of law and other administrative bodies exist to determine if there has been a violation of the right to reputation in the course of expressive freedom, and mete appropriate criminal and civil penalties on the culpable. This paper examines the communication dynamics in journalists' subsequent sourcing, processing and dissemination of news and information against the backdrop of threats to sue, suits and the courts' imposition of civil penalties on a newspaper defendant. The results of the inquiry conducted in Kenya show, among others things, that fear of being sued for defamation influenced newspaper content in terms of the quantity (removal of some material), quality (watering down stories) and structure (page placement of news articles). In a nutshell, some stories, including those of great public interest, were not published because of the threat of a libel action.