Jack Shafer gets it wrong on reputation.

In two recent "Press Box" columns (Aug. 27 and Sep. 6), Jack Shafer criticized Clark Hoyt, the New York Times public editor, for worrying aloud about the damage inaccurate stories in the paper's Web archives could do to the reputations of their subjects. Shafer objected to the very idea that personal reputation should be considered a personal interest, describing it as something that "actually resides in the minds of others." This may be true, but the distinction has long been irrelevant to the common law, which holds libel a cause of action precisely because of the damage that can flow from others' bad opinions. According to Shafer, the burden of fixing old inaccuracies shouldn't fall upon the shoulders of the New York Times, but rather upon the subjects of the stories, who can use the Internet to counteract misinformation.

This stance seems unfairly dismissive of Hoyt's concerns, and more than a little self-serving. Has Jack Shafer, Slate's editor-at-large and a career man of the press, let his self-interest overtake his judgment? The press certainly benefit from unaccountability when publishing falsehoods. However it's much less clear that this privilege provides a net benefit to the public.

The potential impact of our online profile these days is undeniable, at least if we're cursed with anything like a distinctive name. Employers routinely Google the names of prospective hires, provoking sharp debates over the ethics of such practices. Many people routinely Google up their romantic interests in advance of the second date. A simple Web search is even a tool for keeping tabs on old friends or family we've lost regular contact with. Whether you like it or not, your Google profile has an increasing power to define you, for good or for ill, in the eyes of others.

Shafer's blithe response to this worry ("Get a Web page") hardly constitutes an adequate response. As bagelwoman points out, few people can count on receiving the link love that Shafer's column provided to Allen Kraus, the victim of a misleading fraud allegation printed in the New York Times. An ordinary individual has little chance of beating the net's leading periodicals in a battle of Web optimization. In the world of ordinary people, exercising ordinary judgment, the consequences of misleading press coverage are nearly inescapable and potentially severe.

Whether the issue at hand is the Valerie Plame case, the Pentagon Papers, or even the venerable New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, the press are persistent advocates of the supremacy of their privileges over competing public interests. This stance is hardly surprising, but those who must bear the costs of the nearly unfettered privilege of the press deserve a more convincing defense than simple expedience. While there are First Amendment absolutists outside the press corps, many Americans reasonably conclude that neither the Constitution nor common sense demands a free pass for the press to publish blatantly false information.

Back in July, Dahlia Lithwick brought attention to Antonin Scalia's reported willingness to overturn the Supreme Court's landmark libel ruling, New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. When one looks at the facts of case, so ably encapsulated by slasher_14, it's hard to raise an objection to the decision's outcome. Though the Supreme Court's holding frustrated a manifest injustice, getting the merits right doesn't guarantee your rationale will make good policy. The court's heightened libel standard of "actual malice" leaves the press unaccountable for the harms caused by most inaccurate reports, such as the false allegation of corruption against Allen Kraus. The court's ruling shifted the burden to the subjects of the false reporting. Under our current First Amendment regime, the cost of misinformation in "the paper of record" is borne by real people, who will likely suffer real injuries.

Clark Hoyt is right to wonder whether the Internet is increasing those harms. The rise of online archives and search engines may have upset the balance struck by an earlier court between the value to individuals of their personal reputations and the interests of the public in a free and open press. A free pass to print misinformation creates a real danger to the jobs, relationships, and reputations of those with the misfortune to cross a journalist's path.

I can't pretend to know the best policy approach to this problem. But, it is clearly an issue primed for discussion. Those of us in the press should feel an obligation to discuss the matter seriously if we expect the public to treat our prerogatives seriously. That means, at a minimum, analyzing the dilemma with a scrupulous regard for all of the interests at stake.

Do you think the Internet has changed the rules of the game for the First Amendment? If so, how? And what, if anything, should be done about it? We want to hear your opinions in The Fray. GA … 3:30 p.m. PDT

Wednesday, September 12, 2007