CNN defamation case foreshadows Trump media crackdown, experts say
CNN defamation case foreshadows Trump media crackdown, experts say
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Contractor Zachary Young wins damages over Afghanistan story in trial notable for prosecution’s aggressive stance. A combative defamation trial in Florida, involving CNN and a former US security contractor in Afghanistan, is providing a roadmap for a crackdown on media independence during the second Trump administration, experts believe.
The case was already unusual because CNN chose to defend itself and risk millions in damages, while other media giants such as ABC News and the Washington Post have opted to back down in the face of threats of persecution from the incoming president. Ultimately, after 18 hours of deliberation, the jury found that CNN defamed the contractor and awarded Zachary Young $4m in lost business and $1m in personal damages.
Now the case and trial will be remembered more for the aggressive stance of the prosecution, which almost exactly mirrored Donald Trump’s position that he will “straighten out the press” during his second term. “You’re going to have an opportunity to do something significant in this trial. You are going to have an opportunity to send a message to mainstream media. You are going to have an opportunity to change an industry,” Kyle Roche, attorney for the contractor, Zachary Young, told a six-person jury during opening arguments in Panama City.
