MICHIGAN COURT THROWS OUT DEFAMATION SUIT

Posted Monday, March 26, 2001 12:00 am

By: Mark Fitzgerald Former Congresswoman Had Sued 'Free Press'

When the Detroit Free Press in 1996 quoted Barbara Rose Collins as saying "I hate the (white) race," the former U.S. representative complained angrily - noting that a tape recording proved she actually said, "I don't like the (white) race."

Despite a published apology, Collins filed a defamation suit against the Free Press and States News Service, which had provided the recording.

On March 9, a Michigan appellate court threw out the lawsuit, saying, "The gist of the actual statement was the same as the subject misquotation."

Mark Fitzgerald (mfitzgerald@editorandpublisher.com) is editor at large for E&P.

Copyright 2001, Editor & Publisher.

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MICHIGAN COURT THROWS OUT DEFAMATION SUIT

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