This Florida jury had already found CNN liable for defamation and awarded Young $5 million in damages.
Young sued after the fake news outlet lied about him operating a “black market” program to exploit Afghans desperate to get out of their country after former President Joe Biden abandoned them to the Taliban during his disastrous surrender.
After the $5 million verdict, CNNLOL chose to settle the case with Young for an undisclosed amount before the jury of six could award punitive damages.
Young likely settled because settled means “settled.” It puts an end to the case, forecloses any appeal process, and allows Young to go back to his normal life.
CNN likely settled fearing a bombshell punitive award that would’ve further shattered the reputation of the disgraced outlet. Turns out that was a wise move…
“In an email over the weekend, Katy Svitenko, the foreperson, told Variety that she would have awarded up to $100 million, and confirmed the jury was indeed trying to send a message.”
“The message the jury wanted to send was to not only CNN but to all media that the general public is fed up with fake news and partial truths,’” she wrote in an email to Variety.
“Reporting must be unbiased, true, and complete,” she added.
The hurdle to prove defamation is high when it comes to so-called media outlets like basement-rated CNN. The plaintiff must prove malice; must prove that the outlet in question knew it was reporting false information and doing so to deliberately damage the target.
Well, that’s exactly what Young and his legal team proved by way of internal messages found in discovery.
CNN correspondent Alex Marquardt flat out said he wanted to “nail this Zachary Young mfucker” and promised that the story would be Young’s “funeral.” Marquardt’s editor, Matthew Phillips, then replied with: “gonna hold you to that cowboy!” Then a CNN senior editor named Fuzz Hogan called Young “a shit.”
Most damning is the texts from CNN staffers declaring that the Zachary Young story is “80% emotion, 20% observed fact” and “flawed.”
Nevertheless, it aired on Jake Tapper’s show and accomplished its mission. Young’s reputation and business were destroyed.
This ongoing backlash against fake news is nothing short of glorious. Jim Acosta, Norah O’Donnell, Chuck Todd, Andrea Mitchell, and Chris Wallace are all gone. Trump won $16 million from far-left ABC News for defaming him. Facebook paid Trump $25 million for blacklisting him. Facebook rid itself of all those phony fact-checkers, which undoubtedly cost those outlets a lot of money. CBS News is looking to settle with Trump over the election interference suit he filed after 60 Minutes selectively edited Kamala Harris to make her look less stupid. DOGE has cut off the federal subscriptions to far-left media companies like Politico.
A long, long, long overdue reckoning has arrived.
John Nolte’s first and last novel, Borrowed Time, is winning five-star raves from everyday readers. You can read an excerpt here and an in-depth review here. Also available in hardcover and on Kindle and Audiobook.
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