Been threatened with legal action :(

DiablosGold

DiablosGold

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I am very upset with a certain magazine who did a feature with me and my horse. I was under the impression the feature was going to be about the benefits of horses living out. I haven't seen the article, however, I just received a phone call from my ex YO who was very angry, saying I had slagged off her yard and lied. She said she is going to take legal action.

I phoned a friend who has a copy of the magazine and the focus of the feature was not on the benefits of horses living out, but seemed to be on people who were unhappy with their previous yards. One line says something like 'the horse was meant to be checked and fed twice a day and the field poo-picked but that did not happen'. I never said that he wasn't fed or checked twice a day, and I told the journalist that I paid slightly less in return for doing the poo-picking.

I responded to a request on here from the journalist who posted about wanting people on grass livery and talked a lot about how much happier my horse is living out rather than stabled. However the article was titled 'A wise move' and was focused a lot on the standard of care at his previous yard which is not what I intended at all :(

Any idea on where I stand in all of this? Should I contact the magazine, or do nothing? It has shaken me quite a bit and I'm unsure of what to do now.
 
Well obviously the first thing you must do is read the article.

Then, clearly identify the inaccuracies.

Then contact the magazine and ask to speak to the editor.

Then contact old YO to update them on what action you have taken, and what the inacuracies were.
 
Was the Ex yard owner named? if not, theres a good chance she can't prove it - regardless of what you actually said. Journalists, even the seemingly nice ones aren't always good at telling the truth, I would contact the magazine and ask them why you've been misquoted - they may offer to issue an apology in their next issue?
 
Read the article and ask the reporter for their notes/recordings and call back any email correspondence you may have.
Reporters are bound to keep notes for at least a year in case of legal action and accuracy checks.

Ask for a clarification/apology in print, at the very least, if the reporter took your comments down incorrectly or misquoted you.
 
I suggest that you speak to the previous yard and explain to them that they have twisted your words and that you never said anything of the sort and ask her to come with you to seek legal advice.That is assuming you are normally on friendly terms with them. Failing that again seek legal advice as to what you can do to sort things out.Perhaps a letter from your solicitor to the magazine in question.At the end of the day they are the ones who printed the story so either they or their journalist has twisted your words.If it is the journalist then they will no doubt be having strong words.If it is the magazine that has printed lies then I would think your old livery yard may have grounds for slander against the magazine and not against you assuming of course they have named names.
 
Benji1 said:
Was the Ex yard owner named? if not, theres a good chance she can't prove it - regardless of what you actually said. Journalists, even the seemingly nice ones aren't always good at telling the truth, I would contact the magazine and ask them why you've been misquoted - they may offer to issue an apology in their next issue?
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She can claim jigsaw identification, if people know the OP and their horse.
 
Have you kept a copy of what you said/sent to the journalist.

They do edit what you write, cut bits out and unfortunately make things sound not quite how you interpreted them.

If you have a copy, take it along with you and have a chat with your previous YO, explain that is not what you said or was making out and perhaps then they will release its the way its been edited that has blown the whole thing out of proportion.

The journalist may even write to your previous YO explaining that it was by no means their intention to cause any mis understanding.
 
As said. Read the article yourself. If you have been missquoted WRITE to the editor explaining this and see what they have to say. Then contact your ex Y/O and explain that you are very sorry and it apears that you have been missquoted but seeing as her yard and herself aren't actually named in the article (which I am guessing they aren't as it would be very un-pc) she shouldn't actually have anything to worry about... and how does she actually know its HER yard you're reffering to anyway??? ;o)
 
I dont know the legalities, but one thing strikes me - did you, by any chance, provide a written reply to the journalist, or was it all verbal? Do you have their original questions and explanation about what the article was about? It would be worth reading both back to make sure your response couldnt have been misconstrued and that you hadnt misunderstood the slant of the article.

If they have genuinely misrepresented what you said I think you would have a good case for going after them to retract and print/provide an apology which you could show to the YO.
 
I learnt this lesson when I was featured in a magazine article, but luckily the inaccuracies didn't have the same implications. I suggest you ring your insurance company, BHS Gold, or even household insurance to see if you can get some advice. Then, after you've done that, you will know what to do about contacting the YO and the magazine company.
 
if you replied through HHO I'd be tracking down the post you responded to, any emails you sent, any questions they asked the lot!
 
p.s. I asked to see the article before it went to print, but they didn't honour their agreement to do that. Nor did they let me have the promised copies of the photos that were taken of my horse, even after much chasing - not much to ask was it??
 
You cant really do anything. I work in PR and we get misquoted all the time - it is one of the risks of the job.

If you have genuinely been misquoted (as in, didnt say what was writted) it should be you doing the legal letter - to the magazine.

This, however, is costly - and usually all you get is a small apology note and rectification.
 
Not a lot of publications allow copy control. So you have to trust what is written will be accurate. If you like, you can normally ask for a summary, I usually tell people I have written down what they have said and have not written down anything they told me not to write down - you can't go wrong that way, usually....
 
R2R said:
You cant really do anything. I work in PR and we get misquoted all the time - it is one of the risks of the job.

If you have genuinely been misquoted (as in, didnt say what was writted) it should be you doing the legal letter - to the magazine.

This, however, is costly - and usually all you get is a small apology note and rectification.
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Sorry, but this is rubbish.
 
I know the article you are referring to...read it last night in the bath (sorry, bit too much info there:eek:).....it doesnt mention the name of the YO or the yard, but it does imply you went grass livery because you weren't happy with the care your horse recieved or that you didn't get what you paid for.

I'd be having words with the mag if I were you.....:mad:
 
I think your best course of action is to write a strongly worded letter to the magazine and ask them for a written letter of apology and an apology in the magazine.

I'd write to the YO and tell them that this is what you are doing and if you feel comfortable with it send them a copy of the correspondence.

Realitically slander/libel actions are prohibitively expensive and incredibly difficult to bring. You are unlikely to have insurance which will cover a libel action and the same goes for your YO. It is particularly difficult for relatively unknown people to suceed with a libel action as you have to prove that you have a reputation and that your reputation has been diminished in the eyes of others as a result of what was printed. Further you have to proove that what was printed was actually untrue, even if you succeed on those counts you may still fail if the journalist can use a defence such as the defence of fair comment.

I'm by no means an expert but the law of libel is not something to get into lightly, go down the route of a formal complaint (take it to the press complaints authority if you need to) rather than going to law. Do not be scared by the YO's threats they are most likely baseless.
 
I am sorry this has happened to you. Years ago I had a full page spread on me and my yard. It was a positive piece of writing and was a great bonus for my business however journalists really do have a bad habit of not reporting what you actually said instead they make it up as they go along. I was misquoted in almost every quote she gave but not in a negative way. It just bothered me because the grammar and words she used were horrendous and I dont speak like that. Noone else noticed though and all thought it was a great article.

If my quotes had been of a negative vein and I knew I had not said those things then I would be annoyed about it and would firstly contact the journalist and editor of the magazine and ask for a retraction in their next issue and a letter of apology to you and your YO. If this did not happen then I would consider legal action but really as a last resort due to the cost for something that really wont change anything.
 
A similar thing happend to me; I was in an article able cheap ponies that have come good, I thought it was going to be able not having to spend much money to get a nice horse if you put hard work in. But the article made it look like the people I had brought her off had lied to me and had miss treated her, which was not the case at all, they just didn't have time for her so she was left in a field..thats all!
It also made her look like a compleate super star who is amazing at everything...which also is not the case! Luckily the old owner is a farmer who doesn't read equestrian magazines! I would be pretty cross if I were you, I would try and ring whoever you had the interview with.....if you've got a direct mob number for them, also ring the mag and perhaps send them a letter too
 
How awful, I would get hold of them asap, read it first though, might be a mountain out of a mole hill.
 
Thank you to everyone who has replied, advice brilliant as usual :) I will be writing a letter to the magazine tomorrow and sending a copy to ex YO.

Feeling sick about it all really, I just thought it would be nice for me and my horse to appear in a magazine!
 
jaypeebee said:
however journalists really do have a bad habit of not reporting what you actually said instead they make it up as they go along.
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No, we don't. Just because the journalist who interviewed you and the OP allegedly can't do their job doesn't mean to say the rest of us cannot.

OP, as everyone else has said, write to the editor and list your grievances. If you fele you were misled as to the nature of the article than track down all correspondence starting with the thread posted on this forum. You should get an apology and hopefully, a retraction. But I agree there is little your former YO can do in terms of suing you, although I understand you wouldn't want to be bad feeling when you have not got a grievance against her.
 
Hey India, you're fighting a losing battle, sure we're all a bunch of scurvy scoundrels!
I guess none of the people who think we are in such an awful profession deign to buy papers and magazine and therefore pay our wages :p

If the girl who interviewed the OP really did foul up, she isn't doing us any favours - BUT as mentioned a sub or an ed can come along, tinker with something, totally change the meaning of it and the lowly reporter will bear the blame because their name is on it - please also bear that in mind.
 
Just goes to show don't beleive everything you read, as most of it is rubbish magazines write this sort of codswallop just to sell their monthly or weekly. I've always taken things with a pinch of salt. and never talk to a journalist, they will always twist what is said or not said. Many years ago I opened our weekly paper to see that I had been quoted on a riding matter. 1) I never heard of the problem 2) I'd never been asked a question on it by anyone. When I rang the paper the so called journalist was away!!!:mad::mad::mad:
 
That's like saying all solicitors are crooks or all teachers have an easy life with their day over at 3pm and their two month summer holidays, JR

Which, of course, is rubbish, isn't it?

Sorry for going OT, DG and sorry you have had such a bad experience but I don't think any profession gets slagged off so much on these forums.

Listen, for those who think journalists are all such scumbags, don't watch the news, read papers or magazines, you'll only encourage us :mad::mad:
And we will be the first place people run when they have won something and want their picture in, or want an injustice highlighted.
 
Well I must admit, I very rarely by a paper, the freebies go in the bin and I only buy the H/H every week and buy a monthly mag every so often when something may interest me. As I've found they tend to be repetitive.:):):)
 
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