WPC, 4Vj 0(yw@ 0J 0T3 0^ 0h 0rM 0| 0; 0 1uQ 0d UB* %l U6r B) DC AM U*a  v~v$ B D3 0@G AO 0D D/ B^!3|x($ DEDUEӀ2 0Indent123  2" 0Indent20 23  2, 0Indent30 0 23  26 0Indent40 0 0 23  2@ 0Indent50 0 0 0 23  2J 0Indent60 0 0 0 0 23  2T 0Indent70 0 0 0 0 0 23  2^ 0Indent80 0 0 0 0 0 0 23    ?AGMSYaioIndent0I.A.1.a.(1)(a)i)a)P 8Mac DefaultMac Default ` X<6X9`(*Courier 12pt10cpiX<  9p`(Courier New% Line 7 d7Border 1dd-C << G<  9p`(Arial  !  #d#  !!   YYY FILED!X December11,1996CecilCrowson,Jr.!AppellateCourtClerk PtPtHH(FG(HH(d'hStyl{WP}01  HH  2$HH  Geneva  <Px443!#4$*$$*$ KK  Geneva  Geneva .,6 Geneva   inion Geneva  inion Geneva  d%%%%'dxd("$    -C<< CLevel 1Level 2Level 3Level 4Level 5($$   1  ' dxdP Pd ! .         \RA'\\RA'\7ϫXXdd7R "A1-j|`  `@Rߛ @ INTHECOURTOFAPPEALSOFTENNESSEE@ EASTERNSECTION BETTYSMITH,RACHELCHILDRESS )C/ANO.03A019608CV00255ANDTHEPLAYCENTERNURSERY, )INC.,     )SULLIVANLAW      ) PlaintiffsAppellants, )HON.RICHARDE.LADD,      )JUDGEv.      )      )MARKREEDandMELISSAREED, )KINGSPORTPUBLISHINGCORP., )KeithWilson,Publisher, )KingsportTimesNews,Tom )Como,ManagingEditor,  )KingsportTimesNews,Allison )Mechem,Reporter,Kingsport )TimesNews,    )AND      )ALLISONMECHEM,Individually, )AFFIRMED      )AND DefendantsAppellees. )REMANDEDD.MITCHELLBRYANT,JENNE,SCOTT&BRYANT,Cleveland,andKARMENK.CAMPBELL,HOW,CAMPBELL&LEE,Sweetwater,forPlaintiffsAppellants.DAVIDW.BLANKENSHIP,Kingsport,andDAVIDL.MARBURGERandBETHA.BRANDON,BAKER&HOSTETLER,ofcounsel,forDefendantsAppellees.@ OPINION @         Franks.J.  Inthisaction,theTrialCourtgrantedsummaryϜjudgment,andplaintiffshaveappealed.  PlaintiffSmithistheownerofthePlayCenterNurserydaycare,andplaintiffChildressisanemployeeatthedaycare.TheReedsfiledcriminalchargesagainsttheplaintiffsaftertheyfoundblistersontheinsideoftheirtwoyearoldsonsmouth.TheReedsattributedthoseblisterstoMs.Smithsdiscipliningtheirson.Shewasaccusedofmakingtheirson,whohadbeenbitingotherchildren,touchhismouthtoahotpepper.Thechargesofchildabuseweredismissedfollowingapreliminaryhearing.  PlaintiffsthenbroughtthisactionagainsttheReedsandagainstthedefendantnewspaperandstaffmembersfordefamation.TheTrialJudgegrantedsummaryjudgmentfortheϜnewspaper,anditsreporters,findingthatthearticlesϜcomportedwiththe fairreportingprivilege .  Summaryjudgmentisappropriatewhenthereisnodisputedissueastoanymaterialfactandthemovingpartyisentitledtoajudgmentasamatteroflaw.Byrdv.Hall,847S.W.2d208(Tenn.1993).Inthiscase,plaintiffsraiseseveralissueswhichtheycharacterizeasfactualinaccuracies,andtheyarguethatajurymustmakeadeterminationregardingthetruthfulnessofthearticle.  However,thetruthorfalsityofthearticleisnotrelevanthere.Thebasisofgrantingsummaryjudgmentwasthedefenseofqualifiedprivilege.ThequestionofwhetherapublicationisprivilegedisaquestionoflawtobedeterminedbytheCourt.SeeStemv.GannettSatelliteInformationNetwork,866F.Supp.355,361(E.D.Tenn.1994).ThestandardofreviewforaquestionoflawisdenovowithnopresumptionofcorrectnessfortheTrialCourtsfindings.UnionCarbideCorp.v.Huddleston,854S.W.2d87(Tenn.1993).  Itwasrecognizedatcommonlawthatpublicinterestrequiresinformationtobedisseminatedinpublicjudicialproceedings.Asaresult,aqualifiedprivilegewasrecognizedfornewspaperswhichmakereportsofjudicialproceedingstothepublic,inorderthatmembersofthepublicmaybeapprisedofwhattakesplaceintheproceedingswithouthavingbeenpresent.Thisqualifiedprivilegerequiresthatthereportbeafairandaccuratesummationoftheproceeding.Langfordv.VanderbiltUniversity,44Tenn.App.694,706,318S.W.2d568,574(Tenn.App.1956).Thereportdoesnothavetobeaverbatim,technicallyaccurateaccountineverydetail;solongasitϜgivesa correctandjustimpressionofwhattookplaceinCourt. Langford.Theelementsofbalanceandneutralityarerequired.SeeStreetv.NationalBroadcastingCo.,645F.2d1227,1233(6thCir.,),certgranted,___U.S.___,102S.Ct.91,70L.Ed.83,cert.Dismissed,___U.S.___,102S.Ct667,70L.Ed.2d636(1981)..  Plaintiffsobjectparticularlytothree factualinaccuracies inthenewspaperarticle.These inaccuracies consistofthedescriptionofthepepperas hot ,theallegationthatthepepperwas forced intothechildsmouth,andthestatementthattheemergencyroomphysiciantestifiedthattheblisterwas consistent withaburnfromapepper.  Ourreviewofthetestimonyattrialandtheaffidavitfiledshowthatthenewspaperarticlerepresentedafairandaccuratesummationoftheproceedings.First,theissueofthepepperbeing hot istheessenceoftheallegationofchildabuse.Thedoctortestifiedthatthemotherbelievedthatthepepperwashot.Thearticlecorrectlyreflectedthisbelief,whichwasthecruxoftheaccusation.  Second,theallegationthatthepepperwasforcedintothechildsmouthisareasonableinterpretationofthetestimonythatthepepperwas placed inthechildsmouth.Whilethewordforcedismoreinflammatory,itstillreflectsthebasicallegationthatthechildbitthepepperinvoluntarily.  Finally,thedoctorstestimonyshowsthathewasaskedwhetherthemothersbeliefthattheblisterwascausedbyahotpepperwas inconsistentwithwhatyouobserved? Thedoctorresponded no,itwasnot. Thearticleremovedthedoublenegativeaspectofthequestion,statingthatthedoctorhadtestifiedthattheblisterwas consistent withaburnfromapepper.Thischangewasnotmaterialormisleading,particularlysincethearticlealsoincludedthedoctorstestimonythattheblistercouldhavebeencausedbyahotdogthechildatethatevening.  Comparisonofthetestimonyandarticledemonstratesthatthenewspaperconveyedthegistofthecourtroomproceedings.Thistypeofbasicallyaccurateandbalancedcoverageisprotectedbythefairreportingprivilege.Langford,(fairreportingprivilegefounddespiteplaintiffsargumentsthatarticlegaveundueprominenceto inculpatoryfacts andarticledidnotquotethedeclarationsverbatim).  Weconcludethatsummaryjudgmentwasappropriateonthisrecord,affirmthejudgmentoftheTrialCourt,andremandatappellantscost.       ________________________      HerschelP.Franks,J.CONCUR:___________________________HoustonM.Goddard,P.J.___________________________̜CliffordE.Sanders,Sr.J.