Question

A state legislator opposed to the development plans of a private contractor in his district decides to write an editorial in the local newspaper claiming that the private contractor is a racist and guilty of sexually harassing his employees. There is no evidence in support of these claims, but the contractor begins to lose business due to the controversial nature of the allegations. Which type of speech does this editorial most closely resemble

Answer 1

Libel.

Step-by-step explanation:

An editorial can be defined as an article that presents the opinion of the editorial board, publisher, or senior writer on a subject, current event or a particular issue. There are different types of editorials and these includes;

I. Editorial of Interpretation.

II. Editorial of Information.

III. Editorial of Criticism.

IV. Editorial of Entertainment.

VI. Mood editorial.

VII. Editorial of Argumentation.

VIII. Editorial of Commendation.

In English language, slander can be defined as a malicious, false and unfounded spoken statement about a person.

On the other hand, libel is a falsely written or pictorial statement that potentially damages a person's reputation.

Generally, both libel and slander are considered to be unjustly defamatory and injurious to the subject's (victim) reputation.

Hence, the type of speech which this editorial most closely resemble is a libel because there are no evidence in support of the claims (allegations) written by the state legislator.