Wire  services  are  similarly  liable.  Occasionally,  a newspaper  will  publish  a  wire  service  story  that  is libelous and the newspaper cannot or does not verify the facts in the story. Despite the circumstances, some states hold that the newspaper is just as responsible as the wire service, while other states place the blame solely on the wire service. Nevertheless, a person can name anyone in a lawsuit who had anything to do with the preparation of the story or its distribution. TYPES OF LIBEL LEARNING   OBJECTIVE:   Identify   the different types of libel. There are two kinds of libel — obvious libel and libel by inference (hidden libel), refereed to in law as libel per se and libel per quod, respectively. Do not let yourself become confused by the Latin terms. LIBEL PER SE The more obvious of the two, libel per se, means “by itself” or “on the face of it.” The reader or viewer does not have to interpret or study in order to understand the libel per se because it is obvious or evident. Libel per se is the more serious of the two types, and persons libeled  in  this  manner  do  not  have  to  prove  that  they suffered damage to their reputations, monetary loss or other injury. Libel per se can support a lawsuit in itself. There are probably thousands of words, phrases and statements in the English language that are libelous in themselves.  Some  of  them  are  of  a  political  nature, others refer to race or religion and still others involve specific professions and occupations. Others (and this is   no   doubt   the   largest   group)   affect   the   honesty, integrity or morals of anyone to whom they are applied. Here are just a few examples of words and phrases you should not use in reference to individuals or groups: c   Professionals.   Attorney:   shyster,   ambulance chaser, crafty, unprincipled, and slick Business person:  swindler,  racketeer,  double-dealer,  cheat, and phony. Politician: liar, grafter, perjurer, seller of  influence,  pocketer  of  public  finds,  and criminal’s   partner.   Doctor:   quack   abortionist, faker,  and  incompetent.  Also,  never  use  such words as crooked and criminal to descibe people or their behavior. l l Affiliations.  Red, Communist, Nazi, a member of the Ku Klux Klan, atheist, nudist and socialist (sometimes). Honesty and Morals.  Unreliable, a credit risk, hypocrite,   adulterer,   unchaste,   prostitute, drunkard, conspirator, mistress and thief. Obviously, there can be many more classifications of words and phrases that are libelous in themselves. For example,  a  word  like  “drunkard”  can  have  numerous synonyms, all just as libelous, and the same thing applies to most of the nouns and adjectives in the preceding list. Another   point   worth   considering   is   that   the meanings of words and phrases can and do change. Over a period of years the meaning of a word or phrase can shift gradually until it is no longer libelous in itself or libelous at all. The reverse also is true. A word or phrase harmless a few years ago maybe libelous in itself today. A  word  that  has  almost  entirely  lost  a  previous libelous per se meaning is “alcoholic.” A few years ago the word was synonymous with “drunkard,” but today ir refers to an illness — alcoholism. Words of this type, however, should still be used with caution. As  for  a  word’s  meaning  changing  from  a  safe description to a libelous one, do you remember when “gay” meant happy and carefree? In a libel suit, if the defamatory material is libelous in itself, the court decides on the interpretation of the words and phrases involved; the news medium does not. If the court decides the material can be understood as libelous  by  the  public,  the  publisher  involved  has  no argument. LIBEL PER QUOD The second type of libel is committed by inference and  is  more  “hidden.”  Its  legal  term,  libel  per  quod, means  “because  of  circumstance”  or  “by  means  of circumstance.” In libel per quod, the statements, words or phrases involved maybe harmless in themselves, but become  libelous  because  of  attached  circumstances. Usually,   such   circumstances   are   unforeseen   by   the publisher, who can claim that the questionable material was  published  in  good  faith  and  without  malice. However, good faith is not a complete defense. Here is a classic example of libel by circumstance: A news story reported an athlete’s spectacular feats on the tennis court the previous Saturday. In fact, the tennis match  was  on  Friday,  not  Saturday;  a  simple  error. However, the story was libelous per quod because the 10-3