Nationwide News Pty Ltd v Sleeman

Nationwide News Pty Ltd appealed to the New South Wales Court of Appeal against a judgment of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The dispute concerned a defamation action brought by Mr Sleeman against Nationwide News Pty Ltd. The core of the defamation claim related to comments published by Nationwide News.

The Court of Appeal was required to determine whether the published matter constituted a statement of fact or comment, and if it was comment, whose comment it was. A further issue related to the assessment of damages awarded to Mr Sleeman.

The Court found that the published words were not presented as the comment of the publisher, Nationwide News, but rather as the words of a stranger. Consequently, the publication was not capable of being defamatory as comment made by Nationwide News. The Court allowed the appeal, setting aside the original judgment for Mr Sleeman. A reduced judgment was entered in favour of Mr Sleeman, along with an order regarding the costs of the appeal.