Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Santa Barbara newspaper owner sues over critical article

Story by Chapman University professor is defaming, the lawsuit says. Author's attorney says the suit has little chance.

By Seema Mehta, Times Staff Writer
December 19, 2006

The controversial owner of a Santa Barbara newspaper has sued the author of a magazine article critical of the paper's management, alleging it defamed the paper.

The lawsuit calls the American Journalism Review article by Chapman University journalism professor Susan Paterno "nothing but a biased, false and misleading diatribe" against Ampersand Publishing LLC, the holding company of the paper's billionaire co-publisher Wendy McCaw, which owns the Santa Barbara News-Press. The suit, filed Dec. 12 in Orange County Superior Court, seeks unspecified damages.

Howard King, Paterno's attorney, characterized the suit as an attempt to intimidate journalists who write critical articles about the paper and its owner, and said he planned to seek its dismissal in January.

Continue reading the article at the Los Angeles Times

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