Absence of Malice

Summary: The story of Absence of Malice centers around the murder of the head of a labor union and a chief suspect, a character named Gallagher. Gallagher is fighting to clear his name after Megan Carter publishes a report that Gallagher is a "prime suspect" in the murder of the union leader. Gallagher immediately goes to the FBI, the DA, and Megan to clear up the misunderstanding. This leads to a new investigation in which Megan learns Gallagher's controversial alibi (that he was in Atlanta with his friend who was getting an abortion) and Gallagher manipulates the DA into allowing him to be an informant, a role that allows him to turn around and ruin the careers of some of the investigators.

There were many controversies:
1) Publishing information that is unknown and just based on suspicions.
2) Publishing personal information (such as the abortion that lead to the best friend's suicide)
3) Befriending a subject of an investigation
4) Wording an article to create a public attitude against a figure
5) Writing an article about a non-public figure (slander?)