News In Brief

High court backs quashing of libel in magazine case

The Supreme Court, granting appeals courts broad powers to throw out libel awards against the news media, killed Monday a $210,905 judgment won - and then lost - by a stereo loudspeaker manufacturer against Consumer Reports magazine.

In a 6-to-3 decision, the high court refused to reinstate the libel award for Bose Corporation. The court upheld an appeals court ruling that the company failed to prove the allegedly libelous article was written with ''actual malice.''