I maintain a website writing about current affairs and events. Several months ago, there was an event in our city that the media only briefly touched upon, but then left everyone guessing.
I picked up on the story and developed some "what if" scenarios about the event and, by extension, the main person involved. I never wrote that the person was one thing or another (which other online writers, however, did).
Now someone claiming to be that individual is threatening to sue me for defamation over the article I wrote. I immediately responded and deleted the article in question and even offered the individual to tell his side of the story so as to dispell any and all doubts once and for all.
He has refused to do so.
Now my question is this: does this individual have a claim? From what I know about defamation and libel, I have done everything possible to accommodate the individual (1. remove the "offending" text and 2. offer him a chance to set the record straight, which would also serve as a retraction).
Since the media have gone completely hush-hush on the story, there is no way I can write a retraction on my own without running the risk of spreading lies, since the details are not available and the individual refuses to tell me his "real" story.
So, without knowing the details of what the authorities found out in the case (because the media keep quiet about it), I think I did all I could do: remove the article and offer the individual a chance to tell us the facts and what really happened.
My article was all about exploring possible scenarios, without reaching any final conclusion about the event or the individual. In fact, I even included a final sentence alerting readers to the fact that we need to hold off on such conclusions until all the details are fully known.
Any advice?
I picked up on the story and developed some "what if" scenarios about the event and, by extension, the main person involved. I never wrote that the person was one thing or another (which other online writers, however, did).
Now someone claiming to be that individual is threatening to sue me for defamation over the article I wrote. I immediately responded and deleted the article in question and even offered the individual to tell his side of the story so as to dispell any and all doubts once and for all.
He has refused to do so.
Now my question is this: does this individual have a claim? From what I know about defamation and libel, I have done everything possible to accommodate the individual (1. remove the "offending" text and 2. offer him a chance to set the record straight, which would also serve as a retraction).
Since the media have gone completely hush-hush on the story, there is no way I can write a retraction on my own without running the risk of spreading lies, since the details are not available and the individual refuses to tell me his "real" story.
So, without knowing the details of what the authorities found out in the case (because the media keep quiet about it), I think I did all I could do: remove the article and offer the individual a chance to tell us the facts and what really happened.
My article was all about exploring possible scenarios, without reaching any final conclusion about the event or the individual. In fact, I even included a final sentence alerting readers to the fact that we need to hold off on such conclusions until all the details are fully known.
Any advice?
