Golden North Airways, Inc., a Corporation v. Tanana Publishing Company, Inc., a Corporation

The appellant corporation, organized and existing under the laws of the Territory of Alaska, instituted this action in the United States District Court for the Territory of Alaska, Fourth Division, against the appellee, a corporation organized under the laws of the Territory of Alaska, and owner and publisher of the daily newspaper known as the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, published at Fairbanks, Alaska.

The amended complaint, filed August 11, 1950, charged libel through the publication by the appellee of the article which is printed in the margin. 1

*615 The appellant selected the portions of the article which it claimed were written concerning it. The amended complaint recited that the appellees caused to be published in its newspaper “an editorial containing statements concerning all non-scheduled air carriers operating in Alaska, of which the Plaintiff is one, and which as to this Plaintiff were libelous, including the following:

“ ‘They (referring to all non-scheduled air carriers) are unable to comply with the requirements of financial responsibility, preventive maintenance, inspection, accounting and innumerable other requirements necessary to operate safely, efficiently…

(concurring).

I am frank to say that I find nothing in the verdict which required a judgment for the defendant. The questions framed by the court for answer by the jury were designed to ascertain whether the words in the newspaper were spoken of a very large, all-inclusive group of persons, or whether, as Judge YANKWICH puts it, it referred to a group “small enough so that a person reading the article may readily identify the person as one of the group.” Question 1 described a limited group, which the jury, by their answer to Question 2, said numbered from 5 to 10. The jury said the reference was to this smaller group. The questions 3, 5 and 7 simply described larger, and generally all-inclusive groups. Thus No. 3 referred to “all air carriers * * * that did not have a certificate of convenience”. No. 5 referred to “all air carriers * * * that did not have a certificate” and also those with certificates when the latter were making non-scheduled flights. No. 7 referred to “all non-scheduled air carriers”. The jury simply answered that the group was not any of these large, or all-inclusive groups described in 3, 5 or 7. I think this may be made plain if we consider that, in…

218 F.2d 612 15 Alaska 303 GOLDEN NORTH AIRWAYS, Inc., a Corporation, Appellant, v. TANANA PUBLISHING COMPANY, Inc., a Corporation, Appellee. No. 13415. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Dec. 10, 1954. Rehearing Denied Jan. 12, 1955. 1 Warren A. Taylor, Taylor & Boggess, Fairbanks, Alaska, Bassett, Geisness & Vance, Seattle, Wash., for appellant. 2 Maurice T. Johnson, Hubert A. Gilbert, Fairbanks, Alaska, Richard P. Norton, Maynard Garrison, Wallace, Garrison, Norton & Ray, San Francisco, Cal., for appellee. 3 Before ORR and POPE, Circuit Judges, and YANKWICH, District Judge. 4 YANKWICH, District Judge. 5 The appellant corporation, organized and existing under the laws of the Territory of Alaska, instituted this action in the United States District Court for the Territory of Alaska, Fourth Division, against the appellee, a corporation organized under the laws of the Territory of Alaska, and owner and publisher of the daily newspaper known as the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, published at Fairbanks, Alaska. 6 The amended complaint, filed August 11, 1950, charged libel through the publication by the appellee of the article which is printed in the margin. 1 7…