Posted: June 20th, 2017

Each year, the Student Times publishes an April Fools issue called the Crazy Times. The issue is filled with jokes, spoof stories, faked photos and bogus ads. In this year’s issue, the Crazy Times published a photo of the girls’ tennis coach watching his players perform at a match. He is wearing sunglasses and smiling. The caption reads, “Coach Reynold’s new X-ray glasses come in handy!” The coach is not amused. He says that the photo has both embarrassed him personally and seriously harmed his professional relationship with his players and their parents. He says he plans to talk to his lawyer. In the event the coach sues, what would be the Student Times best legal defense?

Each year, the Student Times publishes an April Fools issue called
the Crazy Times. The issue is filled with jokes, spoof stories, faked
photos and bogus ads. In this year’s issue, the Crazy Times
published a photo of the girls’ tennis coach watching his players
perform at a match. He is wearing sunglasses and smiling. The
caption reads, “Coach Reynold’s new X-ray glasses come in handy!”
The coach is not amused. He says that the photo has both
embarrassed him personally and seriously harmed his professional
relationship with his players and their parents. He says he plans to
talk to his lawyer. In the event the coach sues, what would be the
Student Times best legal defense?
a. That the newspaper published a prominent disclaimer in the spoof
issue stating that “the Crazy Times is intended as a joke” and that
none of the material it contains should be taken seriously.
b. That the student staff did not intend to harm anybody’s reputation or
hurt anyone’s feelings. Everything, they say, was published in good
fun.
c. That a reasonable person, while they might find the caption and
photo in poor taste, would not think the coach actually used X-ray
glasses to see through his player’s clothing.
d. None of the above. Publishing a story that falsely reports that a
person has participated in lewd, possibly criminal activity and acted
in an immoral and unprofessional manner is exactly the sort of
thing libel law is intended to protect against.