[Avodah] newspapers and LH

[Eli Turkel]

> Is a newspaper exempt from loshon hara? ... if a prominent
> (or even average) Jewish person were charged with having
> been involved in an adulterous relationship (whether it
> was true or not) and it was put in the newspaper, is the
> newspaper guilty of loshon hara?

It is so obvious to me that there is NO exemption here, that I
hesitate to say so. Instead, I must ask: What is the basis of your
question? Why do you suspect that there might be an exemption here?
Lashon Hara exists not only through the spoken word, but through any
communication whatsoever, even by a simple moving of one's eyes, if it
can be interpreted as being a derogatory comment.>>

Based on shiurim of R. Zilberstein of Bnei Brak I completely agree. He
has many times complained about articles in the newspapers as being
LH. Even without halachot he feels that there is a certain minimum
decency that ven a chiloni newspaper should adhere to


-- 
Eli Turkel