Journalist Ken Ward targeted in libel suit by Murray Energy Corp

Murray Energy Corporation has filed a lawsuit against coal reporter Ken Ward, Jr. and his employer, the Charleston Gazette newspaper. The company claims that a blog post written by Ward was libelous. The post was written about a recent visit by Governor Mitt Romney to an Ohio-based mine owned by Murray Energy. The coal operator, Bob Murray, was also at the center of a media storm several years ago during the Crandall Canyon Mine disaster in Utah.