Supreme Court of Georgia - July 2, 1984
             In April 1982 TV Guide Magazine, The Atlanta Journal, and The Atlanta Constitution printed advertisements for an upcoming documentary series about teen pregnancy on the TV station WXIA-TV. The advertisement in question contained; in large bold letters the quote, "Guess what Lori found out today," at the top, a photograph of an open diary within which was written in handwriting, "Dear Diary: I found out today that I am pregnant. What will I do now?", directly below the diary was a photograph of a young woman embracing a young man, and the bottom one quarter of the advertisement contained the airing information of the series. The young woman in the picture, one Libby Sue Chumley, sued for libel and invasion of privacy, based on the fact that neither she nor any representative authorized the use of the photograph for that advertisement, and the advertisement referred to her and implied that she was pregnant. Based upon the verdict of Cabaniss v. Hipsley, 114 Ga.App. 367, 381, 151 S.E. 2d 496 (1966), which regarded the republication of previously submitted photographs, the invasion of privacy charge was thrown out. In regard to the charge of libel the defendants asserted; (A) that they had made no defamatory statement, (B) any such statement was made without malice, (C) they had no duty to verify the contents of the submitted advertisement, and (D) the ad concerned a news worthy topic of public interest. An employee of Cox Enterprises, the publisher of the two newspapers, stated in sworn affidavit the procedure for screening of advertisements, and an employee of Triangle Publications made a like statement. Both stated that the ad met the criteria required for publication. The defendants argued that the advertisement was not of and concerning Chumley (consideri
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