Samantha S. Barbas, a law professor at the University of Iowa and the author of a book about the Sullivan case, “Actual Malice,” said Ms. Palin’s loss would “fuel the momentum to overturn the New York Times v. Sullivan standard as it applies to public figures” because it showed how hard it was for plaintiffs to clear the actual malice threshold.

A jury on Thursday shot down Sarah Palin’s second bid against The New York Times, almost eight years after the former Alaska governor first filed her complaint.