05-06-09 Karen Petersen and Freedom Farms v. Jane Meggitt,
Denise Blauth, Horse News, Hunterdon County Democrat,
Penn Jersey Advance, Tri Town News, the Examiner, and
Greater Media Newspapers
A-4816-07T1
Media defendants published presumably defamatory statements
about plaintiffs' conduct in their horse-farm business. The
media defendants investigated the information, carefully
checking the accuracy of the statements with multiple sources,
including plaintiffs, who declined to comment. We held that the
qualified fair-comment privilege applied to the statements
because they discussed the starvation of several horses rough-
boarded at plaintiffs' farm and the death of one horse, which
was left to rot for ten days in a paddock at plaintiffs' farm.
Both issues were a matter of public health and safety and the
article reported on municipal court proceedings, a matter of
public interest and concern. As a result, no
content/form/context analysis under Senna v. Florimont, 196 N.J.
469 (2008), was required. Summary judgment was correctly
granted because plaintiffs failed to adduce any evidence of
actual malice on the part of the media defendants or any
reckless disregard of falsity.
