CNN defamation lawsuit: Loss lawsuit expected but still network damage, insider says

A CNN employee says losing a high-profile defamation case this week was expected within the network, but that didn’t stop him from leaving his mark.

“Being found guilty of defamation and dishonesty is a terrible thing,” the employee bluntly said in a message to Fox News Digital.

Navy veteran Zachary Young has successfully accused CNN of impeaching him by suggesting he profited illegally while helping people flee Afghanistan on the “black market” during The Biden administration The withdrawal of troops from the country by 2021. Young believes CNN has “damaged his reputation and business” by calling him an illegal profiteer who exploited “desperate Afghans” on November 11, 2021, first reported on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper”. .”

After a tumultuous two-week trial in Florida, a judge ruled that Young would be awarded $4 million in lost earnings and $1 million in punitive damages, and found that punitive damages were warranted by CNN. Before the jury ruled on the final amount, CNN and Young reached a settlement.

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Afterward, Young said he felt “vindicated.”

“It’s been three years, and to have the result that we wanted, that was publicly confirmed, is an amazing feeling, and I’m glad that it’s over, and there’s no need to spend more years and more time arguing about the meaning of the word,” Young told Fox News Digital on Friday.

Despite little coverage in the press, as the case backfired, the case attracted mainstream media attention, and Friday’s verdict was widely covered.

Young’s legal team obtained CNN’s internal messages in a discovery that repeatedly showed employees expressing hostility toward Navy veterans.

Among those brought before the jury was one who called him a “s–tbag” and an “a–hole,” and another who called him “a snotty face.” It also appeared that Alex Marquardtthe CNN reporter who was leading the on-air report, told his colleague that “we’re going to nail this Zachary Young mf—er,” which was quoted several times during the trial, and said the report “will be your funeral.” bucko,” referring to Young as he chatted with his colleague.

A CNN spokeswoman said the network would draw “useful lessons” from the case.

CNN reporter Katie Bo Lillis was stunned on the witness stand by her messages to US Army veteran Zachary Young, the plaintiff in the case. Young won his lawsuit this week against the network for defamation. (Fox News Digital/Law & Crime; Jessica Costescu)

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“We remain proud of our reporters and are 100% committed to strong, fearless and objective reporting at CNN, although we will take any useful lessons we can from this case,” CNN said in a statement after the settlement.

A CNN employee told Fox News Digital that they did not think the issues surrounding CNN’s reporting on the story reflected cultural issues at the company.

“The messages weren’t bad… But I don’t think it’s the culture of the network as a whole,” they said. “To me it seemed like an overzealous journalist – just someone who believed something to be true and the information was built into that context… he found information to support it and didn’t really look at his conclusions.”

They added that this comes at a time when morale is not good at the network, which is facing low ratings and is reportedly pending layoffs, and there does not appear to be any “reunion behind” the flag internally.

A spokesperson responded to reports about CNN’s financial health by calling it “very healthy” and noted a report featuring parent company Warner Bros. Discovery has been investing more than $70 million in its digital pivot.

Another CNN insider told Fox News Digital that the secret messages that came out when they were discovered were “bad stuff.”

Plaintiff Zachary Young won his lawsuit after he alleged that CNN defamed him by suggesting that he profited illegally while helping people flee Afghanistan on the “black market” during the withdrawal of the Biden administration’s troops from the country in 2021. (CNN/Screenshot)

CNN DEFAMMENT TRIAL: EDITOR WHO SAYS STORY ‘FULL OF HOLES LIKE A SWISS CHEESE’ HUGS ON THE STAND.

At one point in the case, CNN’s senior national security editor Thomas Lumley was impressed after internal messages showed he was deeply skeptical of the “deeply flawed” report. Lumley was called as a witness after internal messages showed the report was “full of holes like Swiss cheese.”

Another reporter involved in the story, Katie Bo Lillis, admitted that she did not think how much this section would affect Young; the complainant said it destroyed his reputation and had a major impact on his life, leaving him depressed and sad.

Several CNN figures also testified that they disagreed with the network’s decision to apologize in 2022 for suggesting that Young had worked on the “black market.”

“CNN reporters’ dismal performance on the witness stand… amplifies the impact of Young v. CNN,” wrote Erik Wemple of the Washington Post.. “They stumbled when asked; they failed to defend the choice of important words; and in some cases, as in the case of Lillis, they appeared to be ignorant of the impact of their large network, which reaches more than 70 million homes in the United States. .”

“CNN should be very ashamed that despite layers and layers of editorial staff, they couldn’t do basic journalistic work or overcome inefficiencies among overpaid, arrogant TV stars playing reporters and cowardly editors,” said a former CNN employee who still works in the industry. Fox News Digital.

US Army veteran Zachary Young burst into tears on the witness stand during the defamation trial against CNN. (Jessica Costescu)

CNN’s press service provided limited coverage of the case. Spokesman Hadas Gold published a brief about the decision, and senior news analyst Brian Stelter briefly covered the outcome in his Reliable Sources newsletter on Friday, more than one at the start of the trial on January 6. According to a Grabien search, CNN did not report the lawsuit or the decision. of judges in the air.

After the trial ended, Young told Fox News Digital that he had no grudge against the network but hoped that CNN and other media organizations had learned from this.

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“I hope they take this as an opportunity to look in the mirror and see that, you know, there’s room for change and improvement, and if it’s the effect it has on CNN, maybe some in the media can see that as a good thing,” he said.