[spoonjim]

In the US that standard is only applied to public figures. For a private figure, the speaker can commit defamation if they do not exert reasonable care to ensure that the statement is true.

[xadhominemx]

No, the burden is not “exert reasonable care that the statement is true”

It’s much more relaxed: “cannot have acted negligently in failing to ascertain whether the statement is true”