A former television reporter cannot proceed with a defamation suit against a rival station that filmed her in a bathing suit at the home of a person of interest in a missing-person case, a state appeals panel ruled Tuesday.

Amy Jacobson was fired by WMAQ-TV Channel 5 after WBBM-TV Channel 2 aired video footage of her at Craig Stebic’s home in 2007.

Stebic’s wife, Lisa, disappeared that year, and he was a person of interest in the case. She was never found, and he was never charged.

In a 25-page opinion written by 1st District Appellate Justice Thomas E. Hoffman, the panel found that Jacobson failed to prove that airing the video defamed her character and violated her right to privacy.

On July 6, 2007, Stebic’s sister, Jill Webb, invited Jacobson to her brother’s Plainfield home to discuss the case.

It was Jacobson’s day off and she was headed with her two young children to a health club pool to swim. When Jacobson got a call from Webb inviting her to Stebic’s home, she wanted to pursue a potential story at the home, which had a backyard swimming pool.

Other camera crews and news personnel were in the neighborhood that day.

WBBM reporter Michael Puccinelli and videographer Nathan Delack were turned away from the Stebic home by Webb’s husband. They got permission from neighbors of Stebic to film video of Stebic’s backyard from the neighbor’s home.

On July 10, 2007, WBBM aired a report that showed Jacobson in a swimsuit top and towel standing inside the open sliding door of the backyard, talking on her cellphone.

The footage then cut to Stebic, who is behind a fence in another area of the yard putting a T-shirt on. The video also showed Jacobson’s two children.

In the late afternoon of July 10, WMAQ announced it was firing Jacobson. She now works as a radio talk show host.

In 2008, Jacobson filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court against CBS Broadcasting Inc., WBBM’s parent company.

The fifth amended complaint included claims for defamation, false light and invasion of privacy.

Associate Judge Elizabeth M. Budzinski denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss, said Jacobson’s attorney, Kathleen T. Zellner, owner of the Law Offices of Kathleen T. Zellner & Associates in Downers Grove.

When Budzinski took over a Law Division trial call, Jacobson’s case was transferred to Circuit Judge Jeffrey Lawrence. In July 2013, Lawrence granted summary judgment to CBS.

Jacobson appealed to the 1st District, asserting that Lawrence erred in finding her to be a public figure under defamation law. She also challenged Lawrence’s ruling that she had to prove that CBS acted with actual malice in preparing and releasing the video.

Under the actual-malice standard, a plaintiff must prove a knowing or reckless disregard for the truth, on behalf of the defendant.

But the appeals court panel rejected Jacobson’s argument.

“Viewed in its proper context, the plaintiff’s evidence fails to create a triable issue that, when CBS edited and broadcast the videotape, it did so with the intent to publish a false report about the plaintiff, or with a reckless disregard as to the truth of the report,” the appeals court opinion says.

The panel also rejected Jacobson’s privacy assertion.

“We conclude that (1) the plaintiff cannot reasonably be said to have had a legitimate expectation of privacy or seclusion in the Stebics’ backyard, and (2) in addition, the videotape reveals no specific act that could be considered private,” the opinion says.

Justices Shelvin L. Hall and Mary K. Rochford joined in the opinion. Amy Jacobson v. CBS Broadcasting Inc., 2014 IL App (1st) 132480.

“I think all of the defamation and false light cases are difficult to win” in Illinois because of the state’s strong laws in those areas, Zellner said.

She plans to file a petition asking the Illinois Supreme Court to take the case.

Brian A. Sher, a Bryan, Cave LLP partner, represents CBS. A spokeswoman for WBBM said officials there are pleased with the ruling.