Toward  a  Media  Regulatory  Reform  in  Middle  East  and  North  Africa:

Civil   rules   are   sufficient   to   protect   reputations,   are   less   harsh   in   nature   and   are   less   susceptible   of   being   abused. [...]   One   is   that   the   statement   in   question  was   true,   since   one   can   only   defend   a   reputation   one   deserves   (i.e. [...]         Even   if   a   statement   is   false,   a   defendant   should   benefit   from   a   “reasonable   publication”   defence,   whereby   they   are   exonerated   if   they   can   demonstrate   that   their  dissemination  was  reasonable,  under  the  circumstances. [...]   If   journalists   were   required   to   be   absolutely   certain   of   every   fact   before   they   published   a   story,   it   would   seriously  undermine   their   ability   to   inform   the  public. [...]       If   a   statement   is   found   to   have   been   defamatory,   the   remedy   should   be   proportionate  which  implies,  among  other  things,  that  it  should  aim  to  redress  the   harm   done   to   the   plaintiff   rather   than   punish   the   defendant.