CNN defamation trial comes at an inopportune time for legacy media

The CNN defamation trial has come at a particularly untimely moment for legacy media. CNN is currently on trial in Florida as Zachary Young is blaming the media outlet for destroying his business as it displayed his face during a story about “black market”.

Defamation trials are pretty rare in the US. The Young case concerns a segment that first aired on Jake Tapper’s programme in 2021, about extraction efforts after the Taliban takeover of Kabul. Navy veteran Young had built a business helping such efforts.

Young used to promote the efforts on LinkedIn to sponsors in order to find people to pay for such extractions. He subsequently helped four separate organisations, including Bloomberg and a charity called H.E.R.O. Inc., get more than a dozen people out of the country.

Yet CNN displayed Young’s picture as part of a story that talked about a “black market” charging people $10,000 or more to get family members out of danger. CNN later issued an on-air statement apologizing to Young. But it did not prevent a defamation suit.

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