The \u3ci\u3eDrudge\u3c/i\u3e Case: A Look at Issues in Cyberspace Defamation

In the days following Newsweek\u27s January 1998 decision to defer publication of an exposé of President Clinton\u27s alleged affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, attention focused on the medium where the story first appeared: Matt Drudge\u27s online gossip column, The Drudge Report. Though his postings on this issue seem to have been substantially accurate, Mr. Drudge has recently been sued for defamation because an earlier Report carried a story of a quite different sort, in which even he conceded there were some flaws. That lawsuit provides a vehicle through which to explore a fascinating array of legal issues unique to the rapidly emerging field of online defamation. No current controversy better illustrates the novelties of free expression in cyberspace than the Drudge lawsuit