An article this author wrote about avatar harassment and assault in Second Life (SL) inspired a considerable response after it was published. Perhaps the most notable reply was from Linden Lab, the company that created the virtual-reality world. In his initial essay ("The Chronicle of Higher Education," September 14, 2007; "The Education Digest,"…

Responds to Spiegel's article cautioning elementary school counselors to be well-informed and avoid public hysteria surrounding child abuse by discussing the issues of unfounded versus false reports; backlash literature; a question of innocence; and the need for better education and training for child protective workers and those involved with…

A study of reader response to newspaper articles in a defamatory context tested: (1) the judicial assumption that the macro-environment in which statements appear is important to a reader's distinguishing between fact and opinion; (2) the possibility that a byline may influence a reader's characterization of statements; and (3) the idea that…