"Libel actions, when we look at them in perspective, are an ornament of a civilized society. They have replaced, after all, at least in most cases, a resort to weapons in defense of a reputation"
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Calling libel suits an "ornament" is Grunwald at his most editor-savvy: a phrase that flatters the legal system while quietly reminding you what it’s trying to domesticate. An ornament is decorative, yes, but it also signals status. In his framing, a society that can afford to fight over words with paperwork instead of pistols is announcing its modernity - and its self-control.
The line works because it’s double-edged. On one level, it’s a pragmatic defense of defamation law: courts are the sanctioned arena where reputation, that slippery social currency, can be contested without blood. On another, it’s an editor’s wink at the theatricality of public honor. Reputation used to be guarded by duels; now it’s guarded by lawyers, injunctions, and carefully calibrated damage awards. Civilization hasn’t abolished ego or vengeance. It has simply given them a cleaner costume.
The subtext is also about power. Libel actions are available to anyone in theory, but in practice they favor people with resources, patience, and the ability to weaponize process. Grunwald’s "in most cases" is doing quiet work: he concedes exceptions, but he’s also acknowledging that the impulse toward retaliation still exists, just rerouted.
Context matters: Grunwald spent his life in the machinery of mass media, where reputations are made and unmade at speed. For an editor, libel law is both shield and leash - protecting subjects from reckless damage while forcing the press to internalize consequences. His sentence is less a civics lecture than a meditation on how conflict evolves: violence doesn’t disappear; it gets legalized, professionalized, and made presentable.
The line works because it’s double-edged. On one level, it’s a pragmatic defense of defamation law: courts are the sanctioned arena where reputation, that slippery social currency, can be contested without blood. On another, it’s an editor’s wink at the theatricality of public honor. Reputation used to be guarded by duels; now it’s guarded by lawyers, injunctions, and carefully calibrated damage awards. Civilization hasn’t abolished ego or vengeance. It has simply given them a cleaner costume.
The subtext is also about power. Libel actions are available to anyone in theory, but in practice they favor people with resources, patience, and the ability to weaponize process. Grunwald’s "in most cases" is doing quiet work: he concedes exceptions, but he’s also acknowledging that the impulse toward retaliation still exists, just rerouted.
Context matters: Grunwald spent his life in the machinery of mass media, where reputations are made and unmade at speed. For an editor, libel law is both shield and leash - protecting subjects from reckless damage while forcing the press to internalize consequences. His sentence is less a civics lecture than a meditation on how conflict evolves: violence doesn’t disappear; it gets legalized, professionalized, and made presentable.
Quote Details
| Topic | Justice |
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