Personal Branding for Entrepreneurial Journalists and Creative Professionals

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Legal Issues and Rights

A working knowledge of libel law is essential for anyone who plans to publish anything, anywhere, on any platform. This applies to websites, blogs, and potentially even social media sites. Whether you realize it or not, anything you publish or republish, regardless of whether you consider yourself a journalist, is subject to libel law. As any First Amendment attorney will tell you, anyone can sue at any time for any reason. Actually breaking the law—knowingly or not—is not necessarily a prerequisite to getting sued.

You could get sued for what you write or images you post, or for republishing other people’s libelous material. Although it is less likely for you to face legal action for republishing a libel, ...