A candidate with a plan

 Back in my newspaper days, a political candidate came into my office. By way of introduction, he told me that he’d decided to accuse his opponent of inappropriate behavior with a child.

I asked what proof he had.

The candidate appeared shocked. There was no proof, he said. This was just politics.

The candidate explained that he wasn’t nearly as famous as the incumbent and needed to do something dramatic to win. He wanted me to know that he hadn’t come to this decision lightly. He’d decided to make the accusation only after agonizing over what was the right thing to do. It seemed to him that the greater good was served by ousting the incumbent.

The candidate was astonished when I told him that we couldn’t print his accusation. I gave him a nutshell version of the law on libel.

I explained to him that he could make the accusation — there are no laws against prior restraint in the United States — but that he would be legally liable for the consequences. The newspaper would also be liable if it published his accusations.

Libel is defamation, the publication of information that damages reputation. In Texas, truth is an absolute defense against libel. It’s why newspapers report that the person who was arrested was charged with murder, rather than saying that he murdered someone. It’s objectively true that the man was charged. But a judge or jury will decide whether the accused person is a murderer.

And so I explained to the candidate that, since the truth of an accusation is important under the law, the newspaper I was responsible for would not publish his accusation. He’d have to find another outlet.

The candidate was crestfallen. He said he’d have to reconsider his campaign.

This was an extreme case, but not an unusual one. The man was a fringe candidate, although not as fringe as the grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan who ran for governor. And even mainstream candidates  try to smear their opponents with last-minute accusations.

I’m telling the story because in all the talk about social media, you hear a lot about freeing information from the tyranny of  gatekeepers.

In my experience, the business of being a gatekeeper is not what most people imagine.