European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 19, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                10 the stars and stripes thursday. March 19,19b7 Anthony Lewis court s ruling is a Victory for press Freedom in  ii Public Char the a Russ was dec old alarmed Este court did not take pan. To its jul Pees to cover i hair Cost St in right to criticize Public characters and measures James Madison said is at the heart of american free Dom. In recent years libel actions by pub Lic officials and figures against press critics have seemed to menace thai Central right. Juries returned huge verdicts and some doubled that reviewing courts would go on holding the constitutional line. Now the press and others concerned about repressive libel suits can breathe easier. The . Court of appeals for the District of Columbia has overturned what was probably the most menacing  libel judgment. The Deci Sion should do much to restore the Atmo sphere of Freedom William Tavoulareas. Then president of the Mobil corp., sued the Washington Posl Over a 1979 Story saying he had set up his son in a shipping company thai did business with Mobil. A jury awarded him $2,050,000 in damages. The irial judge set the verdict aside As unjustified by the evidence. But in april 1985, Tavoulareas won an Appeal when a panel of the court of appeals dividing 2 to i reinstated the verdict. Ellen Goodman the pres deeply especially at the reasoning of the majority opinion by judge George e. Mackinnon joined by Antonin Scalia. Because Tavoulareas was a Public Fig ure he had to show that the Post had recklessly published a falsehood about him. Mackinnon s opinion said the jury was justified in finding recklessness not so much in the article disc Las in the Washington Post s general attitude. The paper wanted High Impact investigative stories of wrongdoing. Mackin non said there was pressure for sensationalistic  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 vote of 7 to i Mackinnon dissented. Scalia who since then has moved up to the supreme court. The first amendment the court said forbids penalizing the press for encouraging its reporters to expose wrongdoing by Public corporations and Public  that investigative porters look an adversarial stance Tward their subjects it added was tue consistent with professional stand in journalism As in our Adversa Pys Lem of Justice. Looking Only at undisputed ifs or no Tavoulareas version of the Frie court found  cd mice of be  it said the Chan of Tavoulareas setting up his son or substantial la  and it found Ojer whelming Evi Dence thai the posted published the Story in Good  the full court Sabin Ion was written by judges Kenn Cuil Starr and 3. Set Fly Wright the was no ideological Divi Sion on the dirt. The emphasis was on the realistic Jet this Case. The Dkl on will have wider reverse ration Kause Tavoulareas has become Giejner for tougher libel restraints in a press. The Mobil corp. Took Theof offering insurance of pcs t r their Cost As if they wanted to sue anyone jail s then vice president for Public lies. Herbert Schmart. Campaigned to Ive the press penalized for Ibeling government. Thai is a form of libel Law that has never existed in this country and that has been held unconstitutional the court of appeals did not 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 their 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 $1 million and s2 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 mat Bur Dun until ways arc found to dispose of such cases More promptly the threat of self censorship will remain. New Vortis to emf t a i swim condoms making biggest hit among women one of the remarkable twists in the plot of the return of the condom is that it s making the biggest hit among women. A covering that can Only be worn by men. Is being discussed by marketed  even bought by he opposite sex in the 1940s and 1950s, the condom was part of the rile of passage of the sexually anxious male. In he 1980s, it s becoming part or the paraphernalia of the sexually anxious female. Thirty years ago the condom made an impression in the 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. I saw my first and directed at women just a few months ago in is. Magazine. The message began with a woman saying the obvious i never thought i d buy a condom. She went on to describe sex these Days of a risky business and to end with the Pilch so Why take your fears to bed j since then i have noted condoms in paste containers bearing names that arc less Rimini font of warriors and More of women s pages  styles i have also seen the most dramatic Juch to women saying bluntly ill do a lot for be but i m not ready to die for  according to Industry estimates 404brccnl of the condoms Are currently bought by Jemon. Use some armchair calculations Factor in Faming sales in the Gay Community and it so com Likely that among heterosexuals More women a buying con Doms than men. Docs this matter to anyone jut a Market re searcher with the possibility Obj ids behind each new Sci dual encounter we carcass who buys con Doms than that they gel used. But i am is ill struck by Hij Toca that Here again women arc being urged to Bof responsible women arc the ones who Are both Sitf proc civic and other protective to inc original  the condom men were More Likely to be Wjk Rcd with birth control. I boys carried that Promse of sexual adulthood in their in Loci at least of Ull Hood was associated wit responsibility. Fathers of teen Arf ways never Long on intimate sexual Lolk did of pfc ont perennial and charming warning not to be Komi girl knocked  later in lot confused course on what we Call inc sexual to culion women look on the Rale of contract poor. Many were eager for this Power. They thought it was safer and even fairer since women arc the ones who Gin  but Many also became uncomfortable in their newfangled inequality. Fathers stopped delivering even cursory warnings to their sans mothers gave aids education Pittet them o their daughters. Men found it easier to Stop worrying Aboul 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 1 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 i he Long run than those who did t. What then of this  Pilch for con Doms Why has safety become More of an Issue among women than men Only women May get 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 heir fears and Shar ing advice. Mostly i suspect that this Gap in the behaviour of men and women facing the same sexual epidemic Isth legacy of the past generation of change. Women have kept watch Over the exigencies or their sex lives. They have been the caretakers the calculators of risks. They have continued this role. In Thi new Day so called men s magazines still portray seas a sport while women s arc full of messages about health. In the final analysis though condoms Are used by men. Even when women Are 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 update version of my sociological study a sold Prospect. At this moment a lion aids has turned the sex Ual revolution upside Down one of the Ricks of social policy is to get men to take the initiative  much heralded return of the condom must also be a return to Mutual  Poal Fri Lii pinup