When a person suffers defamation, it can have a major impact on their reputation. For instance, perhaps an employee believes that they have been defamed by a previous employer. They now find it hard to get work in their chosen industry, all because their employer intentionally spread untrue misinformation about them.
Unfortunately, even if the defamation is exposed, they may find that this does not entirely restore their previous reputation. This is due to something called the continued influence effect. It describes how people will often continue to believe misinformation for a variety of reasons, even when that information has been proven to be false or has been retracted.
The authority of the source
One detail to consider is the authority of the source that is publishing or performing the retraction. Naturally, some people who read the original misinformation may simply not believe the retraction and continue to believe what they were originally told.
They do not see the retraction
A similar issue is that people often see the headlines, but not the retraction. Say that an employer claims that an employee committed embezzlement, and it makes headlines. It is later shown that the employee did nothing wrong and that the embezzlement accusations were a lie. But other employers may have read the original criminal headline and never read the retraction at all, so they do not even know that the information they are operating under was false in the beginning.
These types of issues can make defamation a long-term problem that can have a massive impact on a person’s reputation and their career. Those in this position must understand their legal options.
