Behr v. Meredith Corp.

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• recognizing “substantial truth” as a defense in a defamation action
• test of substantial truth is whether plaintiff would have been exposed to any more opprobrium had the statement been entirely accurate
• Iowa courts recognize substantial truth as defense to defamation; test is whether “plaintiff would have been exposed to any more opprobrium had the publication been free of error”
• “If the underlying facts as to the gist or sting of the defamatory charge are undisputed, the court may determine substantial truth as a matter of law.”
• “We determine the gist or sting by looking at the highlight of the publication, the pertinent angle of it, and not to items of secondary importance which are inoffensive details, immaterial to the truth 9 of the defamatory statement.” (cleaned up)

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).