Court Opinion

ID: 9561383
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 18:09:14.817296+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:13:46.023373
License: Public Domain

KENNARD, J., Concurring.
I agree with the majority’s conclusion that the trial court correctly denied the motion to strike plaintiff’s prayer for general and punitive damages. I do not, however, agree with the majority’s construction of the controlling statute.
Under Civil Code section 48a, subdivision 1 (hereafter section 48a(l)), a plaintiff who sues a newspaper for allegedly defamatory statements may recover only special damages, unless within 20 days of knowledge of those statements the plaintiff “serve[s] upon the publisher” a demand for correction. Thus, such a demand is a prerequisite to the recovery of general or punitive damages. The issue here is whether this statutory requirement was satisfied when plaintiff mailed the correction demand to the newspaper’s editor.
According to the majority, the word “publisher” is unambiguous and does not include the newspaper’s editor, although service can be made on a variety of people in any number of ways. The majority concludes that in this case the parties must litigate whether the demand for correction was known to the publisher at or about the time it was written, whether the editor had actual authority by delegation from the publisher to respond to requests for corrections, and whether the editor had such authority based on a pattern or practice developed over a period of years.
Contrary to the majority’s assertion, it is not at all clear from the statutory language what the word “publisher” means. It is, however, clear what the word “serve” means. To best effectuate the statutory purpose, the word “publisher” as used in section 48a(l) should be construed to include the owner of a newspaper, the person designated by the newspaper as its publisher, and the newspaper’s principal editor. And the word “serve” should be given its usual, ordinary meaning, that is, the delivery of a document, personally or by mail.
I.
Under section 48a(l), a demand for correction, served upon the “publisher,” is a prerequisite to the recovery of general or punitive damages in an action for libel. The statute provides: “In any action for damages for the publication of a libel in a newspaper, or of a slander by radio broadcast, *660plaintiff shall recover no more than special damages unless a correction be demanded and be not published or broadcast, as hereinafter provided. Plaintiff shall serve upon the publisher, at the place of publication or broadcaster at the place of broadcast, a written notice specifying the statements claimed to be libelous and demanding that the same be corrected. Said notice and demand must be served within 20 days after knowledge of the publication or broadcast of the statements claimed to be libelous.” (Italics added.)1
According to the majority, the word “publisher” means the owner or operator of the newspaper. (Maj. opn., ante, p. 656.) The majority then states that the editor of a newspaper is not within its definition. (Ibid.) The majority incorrectly assumes—as evidenced by its failure to even address the question of whether the editor is the operator of a newspaper—that the word “publisher” is unambiguous. But that word, as used in the phrase “serve upon the publisher,” is ambiguous; there are four different possible meanings that can be ascribed to it.
First, “publisher” can mean a person or an entity that is the owner of a newspaper. (Field Research Corp. v. Superior Court (1969) 71 Cal.2d 110, 114 [77 Cal.Rptr. 243, 453 P.2d 747] [hereafter Field Research]; see Webster’s New Internal. Diet. (2d ed. 1942) p. 2006, col. 1.) Second, “publisher” can mean someone who, even though not the owner, is given the title of publisher by the newspaper. For instance, in this case the Orange County Register has identified in its brief an individual, R. David Threshie, as its “publisher.” The newspaper is owned, however, by a corporation, Freedom Newspapers, Inc. Third, “publisher” can also mean the person who operates a newspaper in the sense of controlling its content and operations. (See Field Research, supra, 71 Cal.2d at pp. 114-115.) The term is susceptible of yet a fourth meaning; used in its technical legal sense, “publisher” means someone who communicates a defamatory statement about another to a third person. (See Rest.2d Torts, § 578, com. d; Prosser & Keeton on Torts (5th ed. 1984) § 113, pp. 799, 803; Field Research, supra, at p. 114 [person who communicates statement not a “publisher” for purposes of section 48a(l)].)
Because it is not at all clear from the statutory language which of these meanings of the word “publisher” the Legislature intended, we must, consistent with basic principles of statutory construction, turn to extrinsic aids to ascertain the Legislature’s purpose in enacting the statute. (People v. Woodhead (1987) 43 Cal.3d 1002, 1007-1008 [239 Cal.Rptr. 656, 741 P.2d 154].)
*661II.
The objective of statutory construction is to ascertain and effectuate legislative intent. (Woods v. Young (1991) 53 Cal.3d 315, 323 [279 Cal.Rptr. 613, 807 P.2d 455]; People v. Woodhead, supra, 43 Cal.3d at p. 1007.)
As noted earlier, under section 48a(l), which was enacted in 1931, a plaintiff suing for defamation cannot recover anything beyond “special damages” absent a prior demand on the “publisher” to correct or retract the allegedly defamatory material.2 This was “a significant change from common law libel, which at one time permitted a plaintiff libelled even by an innocent misstatement to recover general damages without proving actual injury.” (Kapellas v. Koftman (1969) 1 Cal.3d 20, 30 [81 Cal.Rptr. 360, 459 P.2d 912], fn. omitted.)
Through the demand for correction of the specific statements objected to, the Legislature sought to narrow, and thereby facilitate, the newspaper’s investigation in determining whether the statements being challenged were inaccurate and should be corrected. (Kapellas v. Koftman, supra, 1 Cal.3d at pp. 30-31.) “In enacting section 48a the Legislature intended to afford publishers an opportunity to correct committed errors before subjecting them to liability; . . .” (Id. at p. 31.) This, in turn, was expected to “encourage a more active press by means of an increased insulation of newspapers from liability arising from erroneous published statements.” (Id. at p. 30.) Thus, protection of the public interest in the free and rapid dissemination of news was the major objective underlying the Legislature’s enactment of section 48a. (Field Research, supra, 71 Cal.2d at p. 115; Werner v. Southern Cal. etc. Newspapers (1950) 35 Cal.2d 121, 128 [216 P.2d 825, 13 A.L.R.2d 252].)
This statutory purpose requires that the protection of section 48a(l) be extended to all persons who are engaged in the newspaper enterprise, “including reporters, columnists, authors, critics, and editors.” (Field Research, supra, 71 Cal.2d at p. 114.) “Otherwise, that section would protect, not those engaged in the rapid dissemination of news, but merely those who owned or operated the facilities for such dissemination; it would protect, not a special form of news reporting, but a special form of investment. If without first demanding and being refused a retraction, plaintiffs could reach behind the publisher or broadcaster and sue instead the offending reporter or other participant, section [48a(l)] would serve little purpose and would actively *662discourage the very free and rapid dissemination of news it seeks to encourage.” (Id. at pp. 114-115.)
Although section 48a(l) spreads a broad mantle of protection over those engaged in the business of news dissemination, the class of persons who may effectively be served with a correction demand is more limited. Once again, this court’s opinion in Field Research is instructive: “[T]here is good reason for [section 48a(l)] to designate the publisher or broadcaster as the party on whom notice to retract must be served. [Citations.] With respect to the defamations that their employees or other participants have caused to be published or broadcast, it is only the publisher or broadcaster who has the power effectively to correct or retract. When a defamatory statement authored by a participant in a publishing or broadcast enterprise has been published by a newspaper or broadcasting station, it is largely the authority and reputation of the paper or station that gives the statement its credibility. Indeed, many news stories ... do not reveal the identity of the author and are accepted by the public as statements of the enterprise itself. Even when the participant is identified, the weight that the public will attach to his [or her] statement may be determined largely by the reputation for truth and impartiality that the enterprise itself enjoys.” (Field Research, supra, 71 Cal.2d at p. 115, italics added.)
As this statement from Field Research reveals, the term “publisher” as used in section 48a(l) refers to the one or more persons or entities within the newspaper enterprise vested with authority “effectively to correct or retract” —that is, those persons or entities with sufficient authority to direct a correction on behalf of the newspaper enterprise itself.
Obviously, the newspaper’s owner, as the person or entity with the legal right to control (see Black’s Law Diet. (6th ed. 1990) p. 1105, col. 2), “has the power effectively to correct or retract” erroneous statements in a previously published article. But the owner may not be the only one having this power. Thus, as this court said in Field Research, the term “publisher” as used in section 48a(l) refers not only to the owner, but also to the operator of the newspaper. (71 Cal.2d at p. 114.) Here, for example, the brief submitted by the corporate owner of the newspaper states that its “publisher” is an individual. It is reasonable to infer that an individual who has been given the title of publisher by the newspaper’s owner has also been vested with authority to make corrections for the newspaper.
To construe “publisher” as meaning only the owner of a newspaper would set a trap for the unwary, because newspaper mastheads often list an individual other than the owner as the newspaper’s publisher. When this *663occurs, a person attempting reasonably and in good faith to comply with section 48a(l) is likely to serve the demand for correction on the individual so designated. To permit the newspaper’s owner to defend on the ground that service was made on the wrong person would be grossly unfair. Accordingly, when a newspaper publicly designates an individual as its publisher, service on that individual is service on the “publisher” within the meaning of section 48a(l), regardless of the actual authority of that individual.
In this case, it is undisputed that plaintiff served the demand for correction on a person who was neither the owner of the newspaper, nor someone designated by the owner as the newspaper’s publisher; instead, the demand was made on the editor. Is the service requirement of section 48a(l) satisfied by serving a demand for correction on the editor?
An editor is one who “prepares the work of another for publication,” who “directs and supervises the policies and contributions of a newspaper,” or who “has editorial supervision of part or a special department or feature of a publication.” (Webster’s New Internat. Dict., supra, p. 817, col. 3.) Thus, editors are directly concerned with the text of the matter published, and at least some editors can set policy and determine whether a particular text is to be printed or not.
Newspapers frequently have several individuals with the title of editor. In addition to a principal editor or editor-in-chief, newspapers may have, for example, a city editor, associate editors, and editors of various features or departments. But editors other than the principal editor or editor-in-chief may not have authority to make corrections for the newspaper as a whole. Even within their own area of responsibility, these subordinate editors can be overruled by the principal editor, who bears the greatest responsibility among a newspaper’s editors for the newspaper’s overall reputation for truth and impartiality. Because subordinate or specialized editors may lack “the power effectively to correct or retract” on behalf of the enterprise (Field Research, supra, 71 Cal.2d at p. 115), I would hold that service on such individuals does not satisfy the requirements of section 48a(l).
On the other hand, a principal editor or editor-in-chief of a newspaper would have overall responsibility for the accuracy and fairness of the material the newspaper publishes. Service of a demand for correction on such an individual is consistent with the statutory purpose because it places the demand in the hands of someone with the power to act on it. Thus, I would conclude that service of a demand for correction on a newspaper’s principal editor is service on the “publisher” within the meaning of section 48a(l).
*664It necessarily follows that section 48a(l) cannot be satisfied by serving a demand for correction on a reporter or columnist. As discussed earlier, in providing that the demand for correction be made on the newspaper’s “publisher,” the Legislature sought to ensure that the demand be made on a person “who has the power effectively to correct or retract.” (Field Research, supra, 71 Cal.2d at p. 115.) That purpose would not be served by construing the term “publisher” in section 48a(l) as including a reporter or columnist, because neither possesses the required authority and responsibility to act on behalf of the newspaper. A reporter basically gathers information on newsworthy events and prepares articles reporting the information, while a columnist may both relate information and express opinions. Although a publisher or principal editor may consult with a reporter or columnist when deciding whether to make a correction, the final decision whether to make a correction in the name of the newspaper is ultimately an editorial rather than a reporting function. Moreover, if demands for correction could be served on reporters and columnists, those in the highest positions of authority at the newspaper might never learn of them in time to investigate and make corrections.
For these reasons, I would conclude that section 48a(l)’s requirement of serving the demand for correction “upon the publisher” is satisfied by service on the owner of a newspaper, the individual that the newspaper designates as its publisher, or the newspaper’s principal editor.
III.
I would also conclude that the word “serve” should be given its ordinary meaning. Section 48a(l) says that the demand for correction shall be “serve[d] upon the publisher.” The majority, ignoring its previous acknowledgement that this court must construe statutory language according to it usual, ordinary import (maj. opn., ante, at p. 656), gives the word “serve” an extremely expansive definition, which includes any of the following: (1) service upon the publisher (maj. opn., ante, p. 658), (2) service upon a person designated by the publisher to receive a demand for correction (ibid.), (3) service on any employee of the newspaper when the publisher acquires actual knowledge of the demand for correction within the statutory time limit (ibid.), (4) service on anyone who had “ ‘actual authority [to make corrections] by delegation from the publisher’ ” (ibid.), and (5) service on “anyone who had authority” (to make corrections) based on “ ‘a pattern or practice developed over a period of years’ ” (ibid.).
The word “serve” as used in section 48a(l) is not ambiguous. The term is used in the statutory context of giving notice. Service in such a context *665means to exhibit or deliver the demand to a person who is thereby notified of some action, proceeding or request. (Black’s Law Diet., supra, p. 1368, col. 1.) There is nothing in either the statutory language or purpose that suggests that the word “serve” should be given a meaning other than its usual, ordinary import. Serving the demand on the publisher ensures that it is given to someone with the ability to act on it. And service may be easily done. Service of a demand for correction may be accomplished, as it was here, simply by mailing it. (See Code Civ. Proc., § 1012 [service may be made by ordinary mail when there is regular communication between two different places.].)
Under the majority’s expansive definition of “serve,” plaintiffs can comply with the statutory requirement that a demand for correction be “served upon the publisher” by giving the demand to a wide variety of persons, many of whom may lack the power to correct. This impairs the purpose of the express statutory requirement that serving the demand upon the publisher ensures that the notice is served on an individual “who has the power effectively to correct or retract.” (Field Research, supra, 71 Cal.2d at p. 115.) Under the majority’s approach, however, whether the individuals within a newspaper’s organization who have the power to correct or retract receive actual notice of the plaintiff’s correction demand within the requisite time will be happenstance.3
The majority’s approach needlessly wastes judicial and litigant resources by fostering unnecessary controversy. Because service of a demand for correction of assertedly libelous statements is a prerequisite to a plaintiff’s recovery of general or punitive damages, extensive pretrial discovery and trial will be necessary to resolve any of the following issues: (1) who, if anyone, the publisher has designated to receive demands for corrections, (2) whether a publisher actually knew of a demand given any employee, (3) whether the publisher made “an actual delegation of authority,” or (4) whether the publisher delegated authority by pattern or practice.
Courts and litigants will now have to engage in extensive litigation to resolve the numerous disputed factual issues generated by the majority’s *666holding. In this very case, the parties will have to litigate, among other things, whether there was a delegation of authority established by a pattern or practice over a period of years. To prepare for this litigation, the parties may engage in extensive discovery directed to the relationship between reporters, editors, and the publisher, among others, as well as the formal and informal operations of the newspaper. Thus, the majority’s approach frustrates not only the specific purpose of the statutory requirement that the demand for correction be served upon the publisher, but also the Legislature’s overall objective in enacting section 48a, which was to encourage a more active press through the reduction of litigation burdens imposed on newspapers. (See Kapellas v. Kofman, supra, 1 Cal.3d at p. 30; Field Research, supra, 71 Cal.2d at p. 115; Werner v. Southern Cal. etc. Newspapers, supra, 35 Cal.2d at p. 128.)
The uncertainty created by the majority is unnecessary. Consistent with my conclusion that the term “publisher,” as used in section 48a(l), includes the newspaper’s owner, the individual it has designated in its masthead as its publisher, or its principal editor, I would conclude that the statute’s requirement of serving the correction demand on the publisher is satisfied by service on any of the individuals just enumerated. It enables those demanding a correction to readily identify the proper parties to serve, and to simply and effectively accomplish such service. Also, it ensures that the proper person within the newspaper’s organization receives the correction demand within the statutory period. And when a plaintiff in a defamation action against a newspaper seeks general and punitive damages as well as special damages, this construction of section 48a(l) enables trial courts to determine from the pleadings in the early stages of the litigation whether the plaintiff has complied with the statutory requirement. This straightforward statutory construction, in contrast to the majority’s cumbersome approach, does not require pretrial discovery and trial proceedings to resolve evidentiary issues. Thus, it avoids the needless and wasteful expenditure of judicial and litigant resources that will result from the majority’s holding.
IV.
In this case, plaintiff mailed his demand for correction to the editor of the newspaper. In my view, plaintiff thereby satisfied the requirement of section 48a(l) that the demand be served upon the publisher. I would reverse the
*667judgment of the Court of Appeal with directions to affirm the order denying the motion to strike.
Lucas, C. J., concurred.

Section 48a, subdivision 2 allows recovery of exemplary or punitive damages only if the plaintiff proves that the publication was made with actual malice. Subdivision 4(c) defines exemplary damages as damages that may be recovered in addition to general and special damages for sake of example and by way of punishing the defendant. Subdivision 4(d) defines actual malice as a state of mind arising from hatred or ill will.

Section 48a, subdivision 4(b) defines “special damages” as “all damages which plaintiff alleges and proves that he has suffered in respect to his property, business, trade, profession or occupation, including such amounts of money as the plaintiff alleges and proves he has expended as a result of the alleged libel, and no other.” In 1945, section 48a was amended to extend its protection to broadcasters. (Stats. 1945, ch. 1489, § 5, p. 2763.)

The following example illustrates how the uncertainty of the majority’s approach will lead, without any relationship to the statutory purpose or language, to contradictory results. Assume newspaper A and newspaper B both publish the same defamatory statement about the plaintiff. Plaintiff serves a demand for correction on a reporter from each of the newspapers. The reporter for newspaper A promptly informs the publisher; the reporter for newspaper B loses or deliberately destroys the demand for correction. Neither newspaper makes a correction. Under the majority’s holding, the plaintiff will recover general, special, and possibly punitive damages from newspaper A, but only special damages from newspaper B. Thus, under the majority’s analysis, identical acts by the plaintiff will lead to completely different legal results because of circumstances entirely unrelated to the plaintiffs attempt to comply with the statute.