The Press: Free, Equal & Ridiculous

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Since the printed word generally travels farther and lasts longer than the spoken word, the law holds libel (written defamation) a graver offense than slander (spoken defamation), does not insist on proof of damage, as it does in slander. Last week the nation's radio and television stations were on notice that the unkind word, when spoken over the air, is not slander but libel.

The precedent-setting decision was handed down as the result of a row between two Manhattan restaurateurs, Sherman (Stork Club) Billingsley and Bernard (Toots) Shor. Four years ago, during a TV program featuring the Stork Club, Billingsley, exhibiting a photo of Shor, invidiously wished that "I had as much money as he owes." In a $1,100,000 suit, Shor's lawyers called it libel on the grounds that television's long reach should not be measured by slander's limited range. The New York Supreme Court agreed. Last week the case was settled out of court for $50,000.