LIBEL AND SLANDER - SECONDARY PUBLICATION OF NEWS ITEM RECEIVED FROM RELIABLE AGENCY

Defendant published a news item to the effect that plaintiff had been adjudged guilty of "martial misconduct" in a divorce action. The information had been obtained from a reliable news agency, but was, in fact, false. Held, defendant was liable. The fact that the item was obtained from a reliable news-gathering agency, and published in good faith in the ordinary course of business, while sufficient to preclude the award of punitive damages, did not justify or excuse the publication, nor prevent the recovery of compensatory damages.

Szalay v. New York American, Inc., (App. Div. 1938) 4 N. Y. S. (2d) 620.