Fox News takes a Paris punch as mayor threatens lawsuit
| PARIS
The mayor of聽Paris聽on Tuesday said she intended to聽sue聽Rupert Murdoch's Fox News over insults she said the U.S. cable television network hurled at the French capital following this month's massacre atthe Charlie Hebdo听苍别飞蝉辫补辫别谤.
In an interview with CNN's聽海角大神e Amanpour, Mayor Anne Hidalgo said聽Paris聽planned legal action because the city's honor was "prejudiced" by Fox reports that wrongly suggested areas of the city were "no-go zones" that were closed to non-Muslims.
"The image of聽Paris聽has been prejudiced and the honor of聽Paris聽has been prejudiced," Hidalgo said.
Fox on Saturday issued several apologies for statements made on-air that suggested such zones existed inEurope.
In one such apology, anchor聽Julie Banderas聽said the network "made some regrettable errors on air regarding the Muslim population in聽Europe," and apologized "to any and all who may have taken offense, including the people of聽France聽and England."
It was not immediately clear where聽Paris聽might聽sue聽Fox, a division of Twenty-First Century Fox Inc.
Legal experts said the city faced an uphill legal fight, especially in the聽United States, which has strong protections for media against defamation and libel claims.
"I believe there is no cause of action in the聽United States, period," said聽Jane Kirtley, a media law professor at theUniversity of Minnesota.
"This is an example of someone from another country not recognizing the force of the First Amendment, which allows criticism of governmental entities," she said, referring to part of the U.S. Constitution.
Kirtley said聽France聽has potentially more accommodative "insult" laws that could let government officials claim that published statements, even if truthful, assaulted their dignity.
But even if聽Paris聽prevailed in聽France, enforcing a judgment might be difficult, because a 2010 U.S. law called the Speech Act makes a variety of foreign libel judgments that conflict with U.S. laws unenforceable in U.S. courts.
"Even if a judgment were obtained in聽France, it would be impossible under American law to enforce it here," said Robert Drechsel, a journalism professor who teaches media law at the聽University of Wisconsin聽at Madison.
Michael Clemente, Fox News' executive vice president of news, said in a statement on Tuesday: "We empathize with the citizens of聽France聽as they go through a healing process and return to everyday life. However, we find the mayor's comments regarding a lawsuit misplaced."
Gunmen on Jan. 7 stormed the offices of聽Charlie Hebdo聽in聽Paris, killing 12 people to avenge cartoons they said had mocked Islam.
(Reporting by Jennifer Saba and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Toni Reinhold, Leslie Adler and Howard Goller)
