But is distribution sufficient to trigger liability?
Printing a letter to the editor isn't authoring it, after all. The newspaper is exercising some editorial control in that letters to the editor are not all printed, but it isn't endorsement per-se, just a judgement that there is some public interest in making it available. Any liability for libel should surely lie with the letter's author rather than the newspaper.
I also note that you ignored the latter half of my question.
> I also note that you ignored the latter half of my question.
In case you weren't aware, the answer, currently, to the second half of your question, is that they aren't liable for a website comment, due to section 230.
As for the first half of your question, the newspaper affirmatively chooses to publish the letter. That's where they get the liability. The website does not, it simply fails to censor it.
Printing a letter to the editor isn't authoring it, after all. The newspaper is exercising some editorial control in that letters to the editor are not all printed, but it isn't endorsement per-se, just a judgement that there is some public interest in making it available. Any liability for libel should surely lie with the letter's author rather than the newspaper.
I also note that you ignored the latter half of my question.