I think the alleged MySpace cases wouldn't be libel so much as punitive actions taken against students with limited rights. Is anyone really sitting in jail who hasn't made an actual threat against a school official? Or have they just been suspended? --ah, I found it. In this case the kid was making a threat to blow up his school on his MySpace page. A different matter entirely.

As for Dr. Phil, editing things to make people look bad is different from outright saying someone IS bad, or that they did something they didn't do. The whole point of going on Dr. Phil, one could argue, is to get Phil's advice. If you don't like Phil's OPINION of you, well, tough. That's the (shaky but legal) defense.

Lynn Siprelle, Editor