Question 1
Question 1 (i)
Whether there is any defamation committed by Orange Daily against the first woman and the second woman.
The facts are that the local newspaper Orange Daily publishes an article about Tommy Wan using the headline “Tommy Wan has sex with many women”. The article stated that Tommy Wan has had sex affairs with several women, and especially mentioned two women. The first women is an actress that won the first runner-up in the 1987 singing Contest held by HKTV. The second women is “the sexy Chan Mei Lai”. The article just mention the second woman is in legal field. The intention meaning of “the sexy Chan Mei Lai” by Orange Daily refers to a law student named Chan Mei Lai. The ambiguous statement lead many people assumed she is a famous lawyer of the same name.
About the first woman, the statement published by Orange Daily is “Tommy Wan has had sex affairs with several women, including an actress“ and “The first runner-up in the1987 Singing Contest held by HKTV” . This refer to the actress who had sex with Tommy. The form of defamation is libel which published through newspaper. It doesn’t matter whether the publisher didn’t intend that meaning. What matters is what ordinary readers or viewers will make of it. Therefore, when reader go through the record of HKTV Singing Contest, the identity of the first women is revealed. The ordinary readers familiar with this famous person, will understand the article to be referring to her. This means the defamation refers to the claimant indirectly.
Conclusion
The plaintiff, The first woman can sue the Orange Daily publisher for defamation
Whether there is any defamation committed by Orange Daily against the first woman and the second woman.
The facts are that the local newspaper Orange Daily publishes an article about Tommy Wan using the headline “Tommy Wan has sex with many women”. The article stated that Tommy Wan has had sex affairs with several women, and especially mentioned two women. The first women is an actress that won the first runner-up in the 1987 singing Contest held by HKTV. The second women is “the sexy Chan Mei Lai”. The article just mention the second woman is in legal field. The intention meaning of “the sexy Chan Mei Lai” by Orange Daily refers to a law student named Chan Mei Lai. The ambiguous statement lead many people assumed she is a famous lawyer of the same name.
About the first woman, the statement published by Orange Daily is “Tommy Wan has had sex affairs with several women, including an actress“ and “The first runner-up in the1987 Singing Contest held by HKTV” . This refer to the actress who had sex with Tommy. The form of defamation is libel which published through newspaper. It doesn’t matter whether the publisher didn’t intend that meaning. What matters is what ordinary readers or viewers will make of it. Therefore, when reader go through the record of HKTV Singing Contest, the identity of the first women is revealed. The ordinary readers familiar with this famous person, will understand the article to be referring to her. This means the defamation refers to the claimant indirectly.
Conclusion
The plaintiff, The first woman can sue the Orange Daily publisher for defamation