According to writer
Kurt Luedtke in the DVD special feature
The Story Behind Absence of Malice (2004), the film's story was inspired by the media law legal case of Times v Sullivan [i.e. The New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964)]. Luedtke summarized this case by saying that American libel laws, due to this case precedent, indicate that truth is not always necessary to journalism in situations involving public figures. As such, a newspaper can effectively make a bad mistake and hurt a public figure and the latter cannot always collect damages for it.
