Obowiązek opublikowania sprostowania a wolność prasy
The Obligation to Publish a Correction and the Freedom of Press

Summary/Abstract: The article deals with the problem of correction which is a most prominent problem in the domain of media law as it concerns both the newspaper office and the society at large, and it influences the pattern of their mutual relations. The right to correction becomes an indispensable condition and equivalence of the free press, and a necessary counterbalance of its force. This right provides every entitled person with the ability to act immediately (without unnecessary formalities) in self-defense or at least to attempt to render the sharp attack blunt and to mitigate results of the abuse of power on the part of the press. It does not simply correct the error made by a journalist but it also has an impact on keeping the balance between the power of the press and rights of the indi-vidual. Publishing corrections by the press satisfies both needs of the victim and that of society whose right to the honest press information is exercised by the fact that the other party has the opportunity to voice their opinions in the same forum. In this case, the limitation of the freedom of the press is aimed at the protection of a certain type of public debate, but it also gives the reader an opportunity to read and think through the author’s opinion before viewing the journalist’s comment. In this sense, the notion of correction is not only a legal obligation, but also (and maybe above all) it is the moral duty of the press.

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