Dairy Stores Inc. v. Sentinel Publishing Co‪.‬

This appeal requires that we declare the standard of liability of a newspaper, its reporter, and an independent laboratory retained by them for statements that allegedly defamed the plaintiff corporations reputation and disparaged its product. Relying on the first amendment to the United States Constitution, the Law Division granted summary judgment for the defendants, finding that they had not published the statements with reckless disregard for their truth. 191 N.J. Super. 202 (1983). The Appellate Division affirmed. 198 N.J. Super. 19 (1985). We granted certification, 101 N.J. 236 (1985), and now affirm the judgment of the Appellate Division. In reaching that result, we look to federal law for guidance, but we base our decision on the common-law privilege of fair comment.