WIVB Found Not Guilty in 2003 Defamation Suit

By Merrill Knox 

A New York court of appeals has ruled that Buffalo CBS-affiliate WIVB did not defame a local businessman by misidentifying him in a 2003 news report.

David M. Gordon sued reporter Al Vaughters and Lin TV, the owner of WIVB, for $10 million after the station mistakenly identified him as the president of Builders Capital, a bankrupt investment fund.

Last December, an Erie County judge ruled in favor of the station, according to Courthouse News Service. The appellate division heard the case and affirmed the earlier ruling.

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“A limited number of errors in news reporting is inevitable, and the fact that defendants corrected the mistake within the same broadcast demonstrated that they strived for accuracy,” the ruling states.

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