How much is a friendship worth?

[Oneeyedvic]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7673148.stm

Seven friends who were dining with the McCanns when their daughter Madeleine disappeared have received a �375,000 libel payout from Express Newspapers.
...
Jane Tanner, Russell O'Brien, Fiona and David Payne, Matthew and Rachel Oldfield and Diane Webster are donating the money to the Find Madeleine fund.

Don't want to get in to the Maddy debate - I am just curious as to if you had been libelled - would you donate the money to charity, or would you keep it yourself?

And what about if that charity has plenty of money and (imho) very little hope.

[sammmo]

I don't want to appear heartless but I would keep the money I think these people have gone through alot of hardship too...first they were caught up in this dreadful crime but then to be wrongly accused of things in newspapers must have been absolutely awful..I don't think the payout was enough �55,000 each is nothing.. If I were the McCanns I would tell them to keep the money as they deserve it for all the bad things they have had to put up with..as you say the charity is'nt short of money..

[ludwig]

If I was in their position I'd do what they've done.
I'd like to see a prison sentence for the newpaper editors involved by the way, after all it's a pretty malicious and despicable thing they've done. Deliberately circulating printed lies about people throughout the country for financial gain.
The money doesn't mean much to them, so how about a real deterrent.

[China Doll]

I'd keep most of the money and probably donate a little to a charity although not the Madeleine one as I'm inclined to agree with your humble opinion. I don't think it's even remotely heartless to do otherwise. I would prefer to see some community service on a dodgey estate for the editors that allowed mallicious stuff about me to be printed.

[libertie]

People often donate any money won in libel cases to charities as more often than not they've gone to court in the first place to defend their reputation and prove that what's been written about them is simply not true!

I can quite understand why they've donated it to this particular fund, but personally I would have given it to some other organisation!!

[andy-hughes]

I think there was very little else they could do in the circumstances - to not donate would have made them look mean and heartless.

The case does expose once again how pitiful our libel laws are - and how you need a six-figure bank balance, and be willing to loose it, in order to prosecute a national paper for libel.

We get the press we deserve, and that is really sad.