On Friday, a jury in Panama City, Florida found CNN guilty of defamation in the case of Zachary Young, who worked to rescue people from Afghanistan after America withdrew. CNN must pay $5 million in damages (not counting punitive damages). Associate Editor Nick Fondacaro has been in the courtroom to explain it all.
It began with a story on November 11, 2021 by CNN reporter Alex Marquardt on The Lead with Jake Tapper. Tapper oozed: “As CNN’s Alex Marquardt has discovered, Afghans trying to get out of the country, face a black market full of promises, demands of exorbitant fees, and no guarantee of safety or success.”
“Black market” implies criminal activity, and so Young filed suit.
Finding CNN liable for defaming Young for helping corporate clients get people out of Afghanistan is a black mark on CNN. It mocks Jim Acosta’s Thursday lecture that they’re all about the “truth,” and they’re not enemies of the people, but “defenders of the people.” That’s not true for people they decide they don’t like.
We here at NewsBusters were thrilled to see tweets praising Fondacaro’s work from Joe Concha, Larry O’Connor, Gabriella Hoffman, and Tony Kinnett, who said Nick’s reporting was “worthy of a whole sack of Pulitzers.” But then, we know the Pulitzer pickers are liberals honoring liberals, which is why we created the Bulldog Awards. Nick has been a bulldog on this case.
We recorded this podcast before the two parties reached a settlement on punitive damages. Enjoy the podcast below, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
