European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 19, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns the stars and stripes thursday March 19,1987 Jnthony Lewis court s ruling is a Victory for press Freedom in right to Cri Liri a Public Char the press was deeply alarmed esp court did rot Lake pan. To ils employees to cover their Cost s and  of amps Madison Dally at inc reasoning of the majority the Fresl amendment the court plaintiffs if they ranted to sue any Tii l Acter said is at inc heart or american free Dom. In recent years libel actions by pub Lic officials and figures against press critics have seemed in menace that Central right. Juries returned huge verdict and some doubted that reviewing courts would �0 on holding the  Tine. Mow inc press and others concerned about repressive i incl suits can breathe easier. The . Court of appeals for the District of Columbia has overturned what was probably the most menacing contemporary libel judgment. The Deci Sion should do much to restore the Atmo sphere of Freedom. William Tavoulareas Hen president of inc Mobil corp., sued inc Washington Post Over a 1979 Story saying he had Sci up his son in a shipping company that did business with Mobil. A jury awarded him 12,050.000 in damages. The trial judge set the verdict aside As unjustified by the evidence but in april 1985, to vote areas won an Appeal when a panel of the court of appeals dividing 2 to 1, reinstated the verdict Ellen Goodman the Espe Call opinion by judge Cor fac e. Mackinnon joined by Antonin Scalia. Do cause Tavoulareas was a Public Fig ure he Hud to show that inc Post had recklessly published a falsehood about him. Mackinnon s opinion said inc jury was justified in finding recklessness nol so much in the article itself As in the Washington Post s general attitude. The paper wanted High Impact investigative stories of wrongdoing Mackin non said there was pressure for Sconsa Tiona Lisicic  he relied also on the fact that among themselves reporters had made conceited statements about what they were going to do to Tavoulareas. The panel s opinion seemed to suggest that any newspaper doing investigative reporting had to be viewed As suspect. That dangerous doctrine was swept away when the full court of appeals earlier this month set aside the panel s decision by a Vole of 7 to 1, Mackinnon dissented Scalia who since then has moved up to the supreme court no Lik part the l said forbids penalizing the press for encouraging its reporters to expose wrongdoing by Public corporations and Public figures thai investigative re porters look an adversarial stance to Ward their subjects it added was fully consistent with professional standards in journalism As in our adversary sys tem Ifju Isicc. Looking Only at undisputed facts or at Davoul Turcas version of them the court found  evidence of be  it said the charge of Tavoulareas setting up his son was  and it found overwhelming Evi Dence that the Pom had published the Story in Good Faith. The full court opinion was written by judges Kenneth w. Starr and j. Skelly Wing he. There was no ideological Divi Sion on the court. The emphasis was on he realities of this Case. The decision will have wider reverberations because Tavoulareas has become a campaigner for tougher libel restraints in the press. The Mobil corp. Took the extraordinary step of offering insurance t l employee Hei s As plaintiff wante l anyone for libel Mobil s then vice president for Public affairs Herbert Schmertz. Campaigned to have the press penalized for Ibeling government. That is a form of Lihcit la that has never existed in in is spun i by and thai has been held unconstitutional. T1ie court of appeals did nol belittle the value of reputation it re minded us of the balance of interests involved the constitutional balance. Those who hold Power in our society have enough ways to maintain Iligir position. They must not be Able to suppress criticism when it is honestly made. Suppression is still a danger. The Washington Post has spent Between is million and $2 million on outside coun Sel in the Tavoulareas Case. Its own Law yers and editors and reporters have spent countless hours on it. How Many smaller press institutions could Bear that Bur Den until ways Are found to dispose of such cases More promptly inc threat of self censorship will remain. Tow Volc to in vow Sarvich condoms making biggest hit among women one of the remarkable twists in the plot of the return of inc condom is that it s making the biggest Hil among women. A covering that can Only be worn by men is being discussed by marketed to and even bought by the opposite sex. In the 1940s and 1950s, inc condom was pan of the rite of passage of the sexually anxious male. Inthe 1980s, it s becoming part of the paraphernalia of the sexually anxious female. Thirty years ago the condom made an impression in inc wallets of Inse cure men. Today it s finding a place in the purses of nervous women. Then it was used for birth control now for aids control. 1 saw my first and directed at women just a few months ago in is. Magazine. The message began with a woman saying the obvious "1 never thought i d buy a condom she went on la describe sex i Csc Days As a risky business and to end with the pitch so Why take your fears to bed since then i have noted condoms in paste containers bearing flames that Are less reminiscent of warriors and More of women s pages  life styles 1 have also seen the most dramatic pitch to women saying bluntly ill do a lot for love but i m nol ready 10 die for  according to Industry estimates 40 percent of the condoms Are currently bought by women. Use some armchair calculations Factor in booming sales in the Gay Community and it seems Likely that among heterosexuals More women Are buying con Doms than men. Docs this matter to anyone but a Market re searcher with the possibility of aids behind each new sexual encounter we care less who buys con Doms than thai they get used. But i am 51 ill struck by the idea that Here again. Women Are being urged to be  women Are inc ones who Are both self protective and other protective. In the original version of the condom men were More Likely to be charged with birth control. I boys carried that Promise of sexual adulthood in their Wallet at least adulthood was associated with responsibility. Fathers of can age Hoys never Long on intimate sexual talk did offer one perennial and charming warning no tog i some girl knocked  later in the confused course on what we Calliec sexual revolution women look on the role of Contr acceptor. Many were eager for this Power. The thought it was safer and even fairer since women Are the ones who get  but Many also became uncomfortable in their newfangled inequality. Fathers stopped delivering even cursory warnings to their sons mothers gave them to their daughters. Men found in easier to Stop worrying about pregnancy women wondered if men found it Loo easy to Stop worrying about them Alto Gether. At the turn of the eighties As an Amateur sociologist i once conducted a totally unscientific study of the relationships of my women friends. We figured out together that on the whole men who asked women whether they were using birth control before they had sex were More caring and better prospects for he Long run than those who did t. Whal then of this  pitch for con Doms Why has safety become More of an Issue among women than men Only women May gel pregnant but aids is an equal Opportunity disease. Perhaps men Are greater gamblers or More afraid to appear afraid. Perhaps women simply talk More among themselves expressing their fears and Shar ing advice. Mostly i suspect that this Gap in he behaviour of men and women facing the same sexual epidemic is the legacy of the past generation of change. Women have kept Walch Over the exigencies at their sex lives. They have been the caretakers the calculators of risks. They have continued this role. In this new Day so called men s magazines still portray sex As a sport while women s Are full of messages about health in the Kin at analysis though condoms Are used by men. Even when women arc persuaded or frightened into buying them it s men who Wear them. The Man who is reluctant to protect himself and his partner is probably not in an updated version of my sociological study a Good Prospect. At this moment when aids has turned the sex Ual revolution upside Down one of the tricks of social policy is to gel men to Lake the initiative again. The much heralded return of the condom must also be a return to Mutual responsibility