Tag: press freedom
Will Palin Succeed In Restricting Press Freedom In New York Times Trial?

Will Palin Succeed In Restricting Press Freedom In New York Times Trial?

By Jonathan Stempel and Helen Coster

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, has spent 4-1/2 years battling the New York Times over an editorial she said falsely linked her to a deadly Arizona mass shooting that left a U.S. congresswoman seriously wounded.

On Monday, Palin is poised to try to begin convincing jurors in a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court that the newspaper and its former editorial page editor James Bennet defamed her.

The trial before U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff marks a rare instance of a major media company defending its editorial practices before an American jury. Opening statements could take place as soon as Monday, following jury selection.

Palin bears the high burden of showing by clear and convincing evidence that there was "actual malice" involved in the newspaper's editorial writing process.

"This is a lawsuit over an editorial, essentially an opinion. This is a potentially dangerous area," said Roy Gutterman, a Syracuse University law and communications professor. "If we give public officials a green light to litigate on editorials they disagree with, where's the end?"

Palin, 57, has accused the Times of defaming her in a June 14, 2017, editorial linking her political action committee (PAC) to the 2011 mass shooting in an Arizona parking lot that left six people dead and then-U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords (D-AZ) wounded. Palin is seeking unspecified damages, but according to court papers has estimated $421,000 in damage to her reputation.

The editorial said "the link to political incitement was clear" in the 2011 shooting, and that the incident came after Palin's PAC circulated a map putting 20 Democrats including Giffords under "stylized cross hairs."

It was published after a shooting in Alexandria, Virginia in which Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), a member of the House of Representatives Republican leadership, was wounded.

Palin objected to language that Bennet had added to a draft prepared by a Times colleague. She said the added material fit Bennet's "preconceived narrative," and as an "experienced editor" he knew and understood the meaning of his words.

The Times quickly corrected the editorial to disclaim any connection between political rhetoric and the Arizona shooting, and Bennet has said he did not intend to blame Palin.

Bennet's "immediate sort of emergency mode or panic mode" upon learning what happened strongly suggests he had been unaware of any mistake, said Benjamin Zipursky, a Fordham University law professor.

"Negligence or carelessness - even gross negligence - is clearly not good enough for Palin to win," Zipursky said.

Supreme Court Precedent

It has been 58 years since the U.S. Supreme Court adopted the "actual malice" standard in the landmark decision called New York Times v. Sullivan, which made it difficult for public figures to win libel lawsuits.

Two current justices, conservatives Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, have suggested revisiting that standard.

Palin has signaled in court papers she would challenge the Sullivan case precedent on appeal if she loses at trial.

Don Herzog, a University of Michigan law professor, said Palin would have trouble showing that the Times "subjectively doubted or disbelieved" the truth of what it presented as fact.

"In context, and given the kind of publication it was, this is a matter of opinion and so simply not actionable in defamation," Herzog said.

While the trial could spotlight office politics at the Times, the newspaper could argue that mistakes do happen under deadline pressure.

It has said that despite Palin's efforts to demonstrate its "liberal bias" and views on gun control, the editorial was never about her and did not undermine her reputation.

"Gov. Palin already was viewed as a controversial figure with a complicated history and reputation, and in the time since the editorial was published, Gov. Palin has prospered," the Times said in a January 17 court filing.

The trial is expected to last five days.

Gutterman said he expects the Times to prevail.

"It's unfortunate that this happened at one of the most prominent newspapers in the county, on deadline, but even a mistake does not rise to actual malice," Gutterman said.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel and Helen Coster in New York; Editing by Will Dunham and Noeleen Walder)

Dan Bolduc

GOP Senate Candidate Wants To ‘Shut Down’ National Media

Don Bolduc, a retired Army brigadier general running for Senate in New Hampshire, suggested on Tuesday that the national media should be shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to reduce public anxiety.

"I have a recommendation," he told a Sullivan County GOP meeting. To "buy down the fear," he proposed, "let's simply take national media and shut it down and see what happens. I guarantee you that better information gets out at the local level, people are better informed, there's less hyperbole, [and] there's less fear being spread."

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Danziger: No News Is Bad News

Danziger: No News Is Bad News

Jeff Danziger lives in New York City. He is represented by CWS Syndicate and the Washington Post Writers Group. He is the recipient of the Herblock Prize and the Thomas Nast (Landau) Prize. He served in the US Army in Vietnam and was awarded the Bronze Star and the Air Medal. He has published eleven books of cartoons and one novel. Visit him at DanzigerCartoons.com.

A Year After Newsroom Massacre, Trump And Putin Agree On Repressing Journalism

A Year After Newsroom Massacre, Trump And Putin Agree On Repressing Journalism

Will no one rid Trump of these meddlesome journalists?

Trump chose Friday — the one-year anniversary of the murder of five journalists and employees by a mass shooter at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland — to laugh with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin about his desire to eliminate journalists he does not like.

“Get rid of them. Fake news is a great term, isn’t it?” Trump said while seated next to Putin at the G20 meeting in Osaka, Japan. “You don’t have this problem in Russia, but we do,” Trump said directly to Putin.

Putin responded in English, saying, “We also have. It’s the same.”

Bloomberg reporter Jennifer Jacobs noted that the two leaders “shared a chuckle” during the chilling exchange.

Exactly one year ago, a gunman entered the office of the Capital Gazette and murdered Wendi Winters, John McNamara, Robert Hiaasen, Rebecca Smith, and Gerald Fischman with a shotgun. It marked the deadliest day for journalism since the 9/11 terror attacks, and brought renewed criticism of Trump’s dangerous rhetoric attacking the news media.

But on the one-year anniversary of the murder, Trump decided to attack the free press in front of Putin — even though dozens of journalists have been murdered in Russia during Putin’s tenure.

“A President of the United States must understand — and care — just how dangerous and undemocratic this is,” Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) wrote on Twitter in response to Trump’s interaction with Putin. Trump “fails this basic test, over and over and over again. 31 journalists have been murdered in Russia since Putin rose to power, according to @pressfreedom data.”

“On the one-year anniversary of the deadliest newsroom shooting in American history, this is totally unacceptable,” Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) wrote. “It would be on any day, but today it is especially reprehensible.”

Amb. Michael McFaul, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Russia under President Obama, was likewise upset by Trump’s remarks.

“This is disgusting. Thinking of all my murdered, censored, and unemployed journalist friends in Russia now,” McFaul said.

Trump has repeatedly referred to journalists, particularly news outlets that may criticize his policies, as the “enemy of the people” or even the “opposition party.

In February, the publisher of the New York Times said Trump’s language is “encouraging threats and violence against journalists.” After Trump accused the Times of treason, a crime punishable by death, the Wall Street Journal ran an op-ed by the publisher of the rival New York Times, writing that Trump’s rhetoric “crosses a dangerous line in the president’s campaign against a free and independent press.”

“On the one-year anniversary of the deadliest newsroom shooting in American history, this is totally unacceptable. It would be on any day, but today it is especially reprehensible.”

Trump’s disdain toward both the free press and the slain journalists in Maryland was on full display as he laughed with a murderous Russian dictator about getting rid of journalists.

Published with permission of The American Independent.