Cresson v. North American Co.

Citations

• 280 Pa. 373
• 124 A. 495
• 1924 Pa. LEXIS 523

Syllabus

<p>Libel — Newspapers—Report of congressional committee — Privileged communication — Charge of crime.</p> <p>1. A newspaper may publish the substance or an abstract of the report of a committee of Congress appointed to investigate the actiUn of officers of the United States Army and other persons accused of an offense against the government. The subject-matter of such a publication is of a privileged character.</p> <p>2. If a newspaper makes such publication it is bound to see that the words selected, and the manner in which they are used, do not convey to the minds of ordinary readers a false impression or one calculated to make an officer’s connection with the subject-matter of the publication more reprehensible than was contained in the committee’s report.</p> <p>3. In an action for libel against a newspaper for publishing an abstract of a congressional report, no recovery can be had where the publication merely stated that the committee charged certain persons, including plaintiff, with conspiracy in connection with the escape of a soldier from the army, while the general tenor of the report as a whole showed that the committee considered plaintiff and other persons were engaged as members of one general conspiracy, from beginning to end, in promoting the escape.</p>