Opinion ID: 203199
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Reasonable Viewer Analysis

Text: We first determine whether Damon's placement in the documentary may reasonably be viewed as discrediting Damon in the minds of any considerable and respectable class of the community to which the statement was addressed. See Amrak, 410 F.3d at 72. As we have repeatedly held, the statement must be viewed `in its totality in the context in which it was uttered or published' and `consider[ing] all the words used, not merely a particular phrase or sentence.' Id. at 73 (quoting Foley, 404 Mass. at 11, 533 N.E.2d at 197); see also Restatement (Second) of Torts § 614 cmt. d ([T]he context of written or spoken words is an important factor in determining the meaning that they reasonably might convey to the person who heard or read them.). In making this determination, we must view Damon's interpretation of the communication reasonably, and can only rule that it is defamatory if it could lead a reasonable [viewer] to conclude that it conveyed a defamatory meaning. Amrak, 410 F.3d at 72; see also Stanton, 438 F.3d at 125; Foley, 404 Mass. at 11, 533 N.E.2d at 197; Restatement (Second) of Torts § 563 cmt. c. Forced or strained construction of the statement will not suffice to state a claim for defamation. King v. Globe Newspaper Co., 400 Mass. 705, 711-12, 512 N.E.2d 241, 245 (1987). [T]he words are to be read in their `natural sense with the meaning which they would convey to mankind in general.' Joyce v. George W. Prescott Publ'g Co., 348 Mass. 790, 790, 205 N.E.2d 207, 207 (1965) (quoting Lyman v. New England Newspaper Publ'g Co., 286 Mass. 258, 260, 190 N.E. 542, 543 (1934)). Here, Damon appears in the documentary during a segment that discusses the treatment of wounded veterans by the administration of President George W. Bush. During the introductory remarks, Moore harshly criticizes President Bush for allegedly failing to deliver on his public statements of support for the troops, citing, among other things, his Administration's proposals to cut combat pay and veteran benefit programs. Immediately following the introduction, Congressman Jim McDermott of Washington State appears on screen and states: They say they're not gonna leave any veteran behind, but they're leaving all kinds of veterans behind. Following Congressman McDermott, two veterans appear on screen, neither of whom makes any remark which could be construed as critical of the President or the war aims of the United States. Instead, the first veteran is critical of the medical coverage or treatment some veterans have received upon their return home, and the second veteran appears to be commenting on either the government's and/or the media's failure to disclose the number of injured soldiers. A roughly sixteen-second portion of Damon's NBC interview follows in which he talks exclusively about the pain he is suffering due to his injuries, and the effectiveness of his pain treatment. Looking at the documentary from this micro-level, there is no way for a reasonable viewer to construe Damon as supporting Moore's agenda. Neither may it be reasonably construed as a statement promoting disloyalty or denouncing either the Commander-in-Chief or the medical treatment received by veterans. Stepping back from Damon's segment and viewing the documentary as a whole, we are compelled to conclude, as the district court did, that a reasonable viewer could not construe Damon's appearance as supportive of Moore's message. The overall context of the documentary, along with its theme, text, visual images, sounds and release date, while understandably upsetting to Damon, does not propel his otherwise benign interview into one reasonably susceptible of defamatory meaning. See, e.g., Lasky v. Am. Broad. Cos., Inc., 631 F.Supp. 962, 970 (S.D.N.Y.1986) (In studying a television program for . . . defamatory meanings, a court must not confine its analysis to the words alone. . . . It is the entirety of the program, both audio and video, that must be considered in determining whether . . . [it] is reasonably susceptible of a defamatory meaning.). [4] Viewing the documentary as a whole, it is clear that Damon is one of approximately fifty individuals whose interviews were taken out of their original packaging and inserted into the documentary in order to further Moore's message. Damon's role comprises sixteen seconds of a roughly two-and-a-half-hour documentary. He appears in a segment with two other veterans, none of whom convey any anti-war sentiment. While a reasonable viewer could conclude that the documentary itself espouses an anti-war and anti-Commander-in-Chief message, no viewer could reasonably conclude that Damon shares any political or ideological kinship with Moore. The only message such viewer could reasonably take away from the documentary regarding Damon is that he was a wounded veteran, and that the treatment he was receiving at Walter Reed was effective in combating the pain caused by his injuries. We endorse the district court's description of documentaries as artistic undertakings that involve the collection of images brought to gather [sic] in one place for presentation and its assessment that there is nothing [in the documentary] that suggests that there is an endorsement of a willingness on [Damon's] part. It is simply a circumstance in which his image is used. It would be unreasonable to interpret the use of Damon's image as an affirmative adoption of Moore's view of the military and the President. Moreover, Damon is not the only individual to appear in the documentary who does not support Moore's message. For example, President George W. Bush, Vice-President Richard B. Cheney and then Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld appear in the documentary, and all, presumably, disagree with Moore's message. Numerous other individuals, including members of the military, who make no statement either way regarding their ideological beliefs concerning the President or the war aims of the United States, appear in the documentary. Because of this, no reasonable viewer could make the blanket assessment that an individual's appearance in the documentary is equivalent to being supportive of Moore's message. This is not a situation where the entire documentary consisted of like-minded individuals asserting a common position. Based on the foregoing, we once again concur with the trial judge's finding that: [t]here is nothing that expressly or implicitly suggests that Mr. Damon knowingly associated with Mr. Moore's venture here. The reasons that people consent to interviews do not suggest endorsement of the views of the interviewer. . . . Circumstances in which people are interviewed on contentious matters suggest that people with strong views, or people with views that they would like to have communicated, frequently submit to interviews by people they wouldn't like very much or whose larger views they do not like very much. And one cannot say that that's defamation under the circumstances. Accordingly, we are of the opinion that a reasonable viewer could not conclude that Damon's appearance in the documentary conveyed a defamatory meaning. Stanton, 438 F.3d at 127; Amrak, 410 F.3d at 72; Foley, 404 Mass. at 11, 533 N.E.2d at 197 (1989); Restatement (Second) of Torts § 563 cmt. c. [5]