Judgement was entered in the Supreme Court yesterday in favour of Federal Capital Press, publisher of The Canberra Times, in a defamation action brought by the owners of the Campbell shops over half a dozen articles about disputes with tenants going back six years.
The case involved a number of preliminary hearings before the Master involving technical legal matters. Under the terms of the judgment, the plaintiffs will be required to pay a proportion of The Canberra Times’s legal costs in addition to their own costs.
The Editor of The Canberra Times, Jack Waterford, said it was a myth that defamation is a quick way for plaintiffs to make a pot or gold or get a tennis court or a swimming pool. Often it can be a very expensive and risky undertaking to sue a newspaper with costs running to tens of thousands of dollars.
“”There were other remedies available by dealing directly with the newspaper and if that fails by going to the Australian Press Council,” he said.