Joseph L. Alioto v. Cowles Communications, Inc.

The September 23, 1969, issue of LOOK magazine contained an article entitled “The Web That . Links San Francisco’s Mayor Alioto and the Mafia: A LOOK report on the private Joseph Alio-to and his relationships with organized crime.” The article, written by two young employees of a San Francisco television station, accused Alioto of using his position as chairman of the board of a San Francisco bank to obtain loans for a trucking company run by James Frati-anno, a convicted felon alleged to be a West Coast Mafia operative. The source of the information upon which this accusation was based was Fratianno’s son-in-law, Tommy Thomas. Thomas claimed that Fratianno had told him of a number of meetings between Alioto and several underworld figures at the Nut Tree, a Bay Area restaurant. Thomas also claimed knowledge- of connections between the Mafia and other prominent politicians. FBI and California law enforcement authorities were unable to corroborate the alleged meeting or other relationships between Alioto and the Mafia.

After agreeing to buy the article, LOOK editors had the authors interview Alioto. The authors asked Alioto about his connections with Fratianno, but did not…