Does a person who communicates a defamatory remark to a reporter have to be held responsible for the publication of that remark?

British Columbia, Canada


The following excerpt is from Level One Construction Ltd. v Burnham, 2018 BCSC 1354 (CanLII):

A person who communicates a defamatory remark to a reporter will be deemed to have authorized that reporter to publish that remark and will be held responsible for the publication as though he or she published it themselves: Pressler v. Lethbridge, 2000 BCCA 639 at paras. 53 and 55.

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