Roman Polanski vs Vanity Fair

Title: "Roman Polanski Won the Libel Case Against Vanity Fair"

Source: Softpedia Entertainment

URL:http://news.softpedia.com/news/Roman-Polanski-Has-Won-The-Libel-Case-Against-Vanity-Fair-Magazine-5365.shtml

Date: July 25, 2005

This weeks assignment was to find a famous libel case. I chose this case of Roman Polanski vs Vanity Fair Magazine. The Oscar-winning director had a libel case against Vanity Fair magazine and the courts ruled in his favor. The magazine wrote that the director tried to seduce a Scandinavian model on his way to Sharon Tate's funeral by claiming he could make her "another Sharon Tate". Polanski said the Vanity Fair allegation was an "abominable lie" that made him appear "callously indifferent" to his wife's memory. According to a British newspaper, the Norwegian model Beatte Telle declared that Roman Polanski never tried to seduce her, as the magazine implied. 

"'Balloon Boy' parents to plead guilty"

Title: "'Balloon Boy' parents to plead guilty"

Source: Telegraph.co.uk

URL:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6555669/Balloon-boy-parents-to-plead-guilty-to-keep-mother-in-US.html

Date: November 12, 2009

This story is an update about the couple who reported their six year old son had floated away on a helium balloon when he was actually hiding in their home. The couple plead guilty to some of the charges and will be serving probation. Richard Heene, the father, will plead guilty in the alleged hoax to attempting to influence a public servant, which is a felony. The wife will plead guilty to false reporting to authorities, a misdemeanor. This story was important because this couple was at the center of an international media frenzy last month and I do think they should get in trouble for what they caused.