Section 5.18 Identification of the Plaintiff—Element Four

• Library: Tort Law 2016

D. (§5.18) Identification of the Plaintiff—Element Four

A plaintiff must show that defamatory statements were "about the plaintiff." The plaintiff does not need to be identified by name, but there must be sufficient indication that the plaintiff is the one being referred to. Importantly, however, whether a publication is about the plaintiff is not determined by what the writer intended but by the manner in which the article would be understood by a reasonable reader. Byrne v. News Corp., 190 S.W. 933 (Mo. App. W.D. 1916).

Even if the plaintiff is readily identifiable, the defamatory portion of the article must be directed at the plaintiff. May v. Greater Kansas City Dental Soc’y, 863 S.W.2d 941, 945 (Mo. App. W.D. 1993). For...