CNN settles defamation lawsuit after being ordered to pay $5 million

A Florida judge on Friday ordered CNN to pay $5 million for defaming an independent contractor in a five-minute segment that aired on the network in November 2021.

CNN settled the lawsuit hours later for an undisclosed amount, before a judge was able to award additional damages in the case. These damages can be much higher than the original number awarded by the judge.

Journalists face an increasingly hostile legal and political environment. There are strong First Amendment protections for journalists, and plaintiffs in defamation cases must prove that a news outlet published false information even if it knew the information was false.

But public opinion has turned sharply against the press association, as financial constraints on the industry’s business model have made it tougher to deal with lawsuits. ABC News stunned industry watchers last month when it agreed to pay $15 million to settle defamation claims made by President-elect Donald J. Trump.

“We are proud journalists and are 100 percent committed to strong, fearless and honest reporting at CNN,” a network spokesperson said in a statement, “even though We will even learn useful lessons from this case.”

CNN’s case ended after a two-week trial in a courtroom in Panama City, Fla., where the insurer’s attorney, Zachary Young, said it accused him of improper involvement. -legal “black market” for network export services. in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of American troops.

The episode, narrated by reporter Alexander Marquardt, focused on contractors who, the network says, charge exorbitant fees to deport Afghans.

Mr. Young, a Navy veteran who was the only contractor named in the episode, filed a lawsuit in 2022, which he says damages his reputation and harms his business. Mr. Young said he offered his services to large companies looking to help out workers in Afghanistan, and the prices were reasonable.

The trial included testimony from Mr. Marquardt, who was confronted with internal CNN communications, released as part of the trial, that showed him mocking Mr. Young to colleagues. At one point he wrote, “We’re going to nail this Zachary Young,” referring to him with a profanity. Other messages show some CNN employees calling the report “absurd.”

“It’s not a hit piece, I don’t do a hit piece,” Mr. Marquardt testified. The reporter said he followed up on the facts in his report and learned “unpleasant” details about Mr. Young.

CNN asserted that its report, which aired during an episode of “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” did not confirm anything false about Mr. Young. In 2022, the network removed the episode from its website and said it regretted using the term “black market”, saying the phrase was intended to refer to an unregulated activity. , not something illegal.

Lawyers for the network said the journalists made a good-faith effort to ensure accurate reporting, and sought to draw attention to Afghans trying to escape a chaotic and violent situation.

The location of the trial, in a Florida district where Mr. Trump won about three-quarters of the vote in 2024, was seen as a loss for CNN, which Mr. Trump and supporters have exploited. his story is his. Mr. Trump’s lawsuit against ABC was also filed in Florida, which was settled.

“Defamation law is becoming more of a concern, including in mainstream media,” said Eugene Volokh, a senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution who studies First Amendment law. He says the rise of hyper-political media and unregulated social media has affected public perception of the industry.

Among the judges, he added, “I think there is a feeling that the media today is less careful than it used to be.”