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&lt;p&gt;For the first time in decades, there are no active libel suits pending against the Times Company (owners of the &lt;i&gt;NY Times&lt;/i&gt;, &lt;i&gt;Boston Globe&lt;/i&gt;, and many other papers). Nor has there been an active libel suit against Time Inc. in nearly a year. In general, libel cases have been slowly disappearing.&amp;nbsp; The Media Law Resource Center found that libel trials in the 2000s were down more than 50 percent from the 1980s. In 2009, there were only &lt;i&gt;nine&lt;/i&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;The New York Observer&lt;/i&gt; takes a look at the curious case of the disappearing libel suit, citing&amp;mdash;as every article written on media law must&amp;mdash;Cahill&amp;rsquo;s First Amendment legend Floyd Abrams: &amp;ldquo;I don&amp;rsquo;t know of many litigators, whether they represent the defendants or plaintiffs, who are doing a lot in this area.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Three main theories are posited for the decline:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;1. &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; A track record of limited success for plaintiffs discourages people from suing. (The 1964 Supreme Court decision &lt;em&gt;The New York Times v. Sullivan&lt;/em&gt; &lt;em&gt;established&lt;/em&gt; the &amp;ldquo;actual-malice&amp;rdquo; doctrine for libel cases, meaning that if a public figure or official wanted to pursue a libel case, a story had to written with knowledge that it was false, or with a &quot;reckless disregard&quot; for the truth. This is a very high bar.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;2. &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The Web. Corrections can be quickly made online, heading lawsuits off before lawyers are even called. Also, there are low barriers to responsive publication online. In the words of a longtime &lt;i&gt;Wall Street Journal&lt;/i&gt; counsel: &amp;ldquo;People who used to feel frustrated that they couldn&#39;t get their viewpoint across now can &amp;hellip; They can put their response on a Web site. They can find an outlet that will publish it. They can get their perspective out immediately.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;3. &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The financial travails of the traditional media have forced deep cuts in investigative reporting&amp;mdash;which is often the sort of journalism that sparks libel suits. (Cleary this explanation is inextricable from #2.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;right&quot;&gt;-posted by brian&lt;/p&gt;

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