As Fearful Media Companies Settle Defamation Cases, Sarah Palin Prepares To Resume Her Battle With the New York Times

Sarah Palin’s long-running defamation case against the New York Times is due back in court next week amid a landscape where other media companies have settled high-profile defamation cases, including one brought by the president.Ms. Palin sued the newspaper over a June 2017 gun control editorial that linked her previous rhetoric to the 2011 shooting in Arizona that killed six people and gravely wounded Congresswoman Gabby Giffords. The Times acknowledged that the editorial was inaccurate, but claimed that it was an “honest mistake.” It published a correction below the editorial and has vigorously defended itself in the lawsuit.Ms. Palin, though, insists that the Times met the standard for defamation of public figures — “actual malice” — under the Supreme Court precedent that governs defamation law — New York Times v. Sullivan. Actual malice implies that the newspaper was aware that what it was publishing was incorrect but published it regardless.Ms. Palin hopes to use the case eventually to force the Supreme Court to revisit Sullivan. Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch have indicated they could support limits to the malice standard or get rid of it. The retrial comes as public figures have become more emboldened to sue media outlets for defamation.In January, CNN reached an undisclosed defamation settlement for punitive damages with Navy veteran Zachary Young over a report that he ran a black market operation that preyed on desperate Afghans trying to flee the country in 2021. That settlement came after a jury awarded Mr. Young $4 million for lost earnings and $1 million for personal damages after finding the network liable for defamation.In December, ABC News agreed to pay $15 million toward President-elect Trump’s presidential library to settle a defamation lawsuit over anchor George Stephanopoulos’ inaccurate on-air assertion that Mr. Trump had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll.“The capitulation in the ABC case and other Trump-related litigation suggests deep-pocketed defendants are nervous about facing jurors anywhere,” the dean emeritus of the Roger Williams University School of Law, David Logan, told Reuters.President Trump has also filed a $20 billion lawsuit against the CBS News “60 Minutes” over its editing of Vice President Harris’ interview in October. Mr. Trump claims the editing could have cost him the election.“60 Minutes” producers edited an answer she gave to a question about Prime Minister Netanyahu to make it sound more coherent. CBS is owned by Paramount but is in a deal to be bought by Skydance.The outgoing head of Paramount, Shari Redstone, wants to settle the case to help win approval for the deal but the leadership team at CBS News reportedly opposes any settlement.Another Trump administration official is threatening to sue CNN over a story that hasn’t aired. The Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, sent a cease-and-desist letter to the cable network saying a story it was preparing claiming she was no longer a resident of Hawaii and allegedly improperly voted in that state during the 2024 elections was false and defamatory.

As Fearful Media Companies Settle Defamation Cases, Sarah Palin Prepares To Resume Her Battle With the New York Times

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