Bravo TV's "Real Housewives" shows are no different. Last week, the housewives of New York City began a drama-filled season by taking their feuds and letting the New York Post's gossip columnist Cindy Adams splash them across the front page.
Elizabeth Hayt, a writer for The Daily Beast (online news source), commented on the national fascination with the housewives in her recent piece "Wives Gone Wild." Written in a blog style, Hayt describes the franchise as one that "doesn't just showcase America's funniest home catfights. It's a post-feminist nightmare that preys on women's shallowest, least-attractive qualities."
After reading this article and drawing on my own experience of watching the housewives in fascination, I began to wonder what sort of libel case any of these women would have against the millions of bloggers speaking out their frustrations toward the over-the-top, fictitious lifestyle that the housewives create through the show.
In class we came up with five criteria needed for a person to be libeled: publication, identification, defamation, injury caused and publisher being at fault.
In the case of the housewives, I think that defamation would be particularly difficult to prove. I can't imagine anyone convincing a jury that their reputation was harmed simply because of a statement made in publication when the housewives choose to live their lives on camera and be scrutinized by America. Their actions, in my opinion, often work to harm their own reputations each and every week.
In addition, even if statements made met all of the criteria for a good libel suit, these women have thrust themselves into the public eye, making libel cases much more difficult to prove as public figures not private citizens.
I love reality television, I just wonder what this type of television media will change about the difficulty of making a libel case online and in print.
Once these individuals seeking their 15-minutes of fame on Reality TV shows get their big break, they become public figures, and as you note, it's much harder to win a libel case. But, would they still be public figures in twenty years? I wonder if these Reality TV stars regret their decisions to seek fame after the first tabloid story hits the stands.
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