spoiling for a fight

After posting links to a few articles on Jason Leopold on our class blog I got two emails from a disgruntled Leopold. Turns out that he just left Truthout yesterday and apparently he spent the day deep-googling himself. Here are the emails:

Ms. Russell--You defamed and libeled me by posting information about me that is one-sided. That is certainly not the trait of a journalist and as a professor you should know better. I demand you retract your commentary and provide me with the contact information of your superior at the university. I am appalled that such hurtful and damaging commentary would be posted on the web without first even attempting to get my side of the story, which I have laid out in great detail in my book. You cast me as some sort of villain in the world of journalism and have also taught that to your students and that is action for which people pursue civil remedies. I amone of those individuals.

Please contact me soonest.

Jason Leopold

Ms. Russell

I'd like to know if you personally spoke with anyone at Salon who communicated this information to you or whether you gleaned it from previously published reports.

I am taking this very seriously.

I may add that since you assigned your class the CJR story you may also tell them to look at the bottom of said story for a letter that my attorney had sent that publication based on the defamatory statements that journalist had made, again, without contacting me to give me an opportunity to respond.

Jason Leopold