'Chilling effect': ABC News employees condemn network‘s 'surrender' to Trump
George Stephanopoulos image via ABC Screengrab
George Stephanopoulos image via ABC Screengrab
December 17, 2024
ALTERNET
Earlier this week, ABC News announced it was settling a defamation lawsuit filed by President-elect Donald Trump by writing him a $15 million check for his future presidential library (and another $1 million for legal fees).
Trump's lawsuit, which was filed earlier this year, accused the network of defamation after anchor George Stephanopoulos said on the air that Trump was found liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll, rather than for the actual verdict rendered by the jury of sexual abuse. Judge Lewis F. Kaplan maintained that while rape and sexual abuse were different terms, they were essentially the same thing as the public understands them.
But following the settlement, Rolling Stone's Asawin Suebsaeng and Nikki McCann Ramirez reported that several unnamed ABC News journalists are angry at their employer for rolling over for Trump without putting up a fight. Several anonymous sources confided to Rolling Stone that they feared the settlement would have a "chilling effect" on journalism as a whole.
READ MORE: Trump slammed for 'completely wacko' suit against ABC News and George Stephanopoulos
“It is frightening,” one ABC reporter set to cover the incoming Trump administration said. “My fear is this sets a tone for the next four years and that the tone is: Do not upset the president... That’s not our job. I’m not the only person here who saw this as a big win for Donald Trump and a surrender [by ABC].”
Rolling Stone further reported that executives at the network were motivated to make the problem "go away" as quickly as possible. But the settlement may have emboldened Trump to pursue additional litigation against other news outlets: On Monday, Trump filed a lawsuit against the Des Moines Register and pollster J. Ann Selzer, arguing that a poll published in the final days of the election predicting Vice President Kamala Harris would win the state by three points was "election interference" (the poll proved to be an outlier as Trump won Iowa by double digits).
In her Substack newsletter The Present Age, journalist Parker Molloy cited former Buffalo News editor Margaret Sullivan's warning to all news outlets to never settle defamation cases. According to Sullivan, "settling would only encourage more people to sue," which invites more bullying of the news media by the rich and powerful.
"Sullivan cites historian Timothy Snyder's crucial insight about resisting autocracy: 'Do not obey in advance.' When institutions preemptively submit to potential autocrats, they teach those autocrats what they can get away with," Molloy wrote. "ABC News just gave Trump a blueprint for how to bend media organizations to his will."
READ MORE: 'Open season': Experts slam Trump's 'disgusting' lawsuit against Iowa newspaper and pollster
Click here to read Rolling Stone's report in full.
ALTERNET
Earlier this week, ABC News announced it was settling a defamation lawsuit filed by President-elect Donald Trump by writing him a $15 million check for his future presidential library (and another $1 million for legal fees).
Trump's lawsuit, which was filed earlier this year, accused the network of defamation after anchor George Stephanopoulos said on the air that Trump was found liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll, rather than for the actual verdict rendered by the jury of sexual abuse. Judge Lewis F. Kaplan maintained that while rape and sexual abuse were different terms, they were essentially the same thing as the public understands them.
But following the settlement, Rolling Stone's Asawin Suebsaeng and Nikki McCann Ramirez reported that several unnamed ABC News journalists are angry at their employer for rolling over for Trump without putting up a fight. Several anonymous sources confided to Rolling Stone that they feared the settlement would have a "chilling effect" on journalism as a whole.
READ MORE: Trump slammed for 'completely wacko' suit against ABC News and George Stephanopoulos
“It is frightening,” one ABC reporter set to cover the incoming Trump administration said. “My fear is this sets a tone for the next four years and that the tone is: Do not upset the president... That’s not our job. I’m not the only person here who saw this as a big win for Donald Trump and a surrender [by ABC].”
Rolling Stone further reported that executives at the network were motivated to make the problem "go away" as quickly as possible. But the settlement may have emboldened Trump to pursue additional litigation against other news outlets: On Monday, Trump filed a lawsuit against the Des Moines Register and pollster J. Ann Selzer, arguing that a poll published in the final days of the election predicting Vice President Kamala Harris would win the state by three points was "election interference" (the poll proved to be an outlier as Trump won Iowa by double digits).
In her Substack newsletter The Present Age, journalist Parker Molloy cited former Buffalo News editor Margaret Sullivan's warning to all news outlets to never settle defamation cases. According to Sullivan, "settling would only encourage more people to sue," which invites more bullying of the news media by the rich and powerful.
"Sullivan cites historian Timothy Snyder's crucial insight about resisting autocracy: 'Do not obey in advance.' When institutions preemptively submit to potential autocrats, they teach those autocrats what they can get away with," Molloy wrote. "ABC News just gave Trump a blueprint for how to bend media organizations to his will."
READ MORE: 'Open season': Experts slam Trump's 'disgusting' lawsuit against Iowa newspaper and pollster
Click here to read Rolling Stone's report in full.
Brad Reed
December 17, 2024
RAW STORY
Patrick Soon-Shiong. Photo by NHS Confederation/Creative Commons.
Patrick Soon-Shiong, the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times, has reportedly implemented even more stringent rules against running editorials criticizing President-elect Donald Trump.
An internal memo signed by LA Times opinion page staffers and obtained by journalist Oliver Darcy claims that Soon-Shiong has barred op-eds that are critical of Trump unless the paper runs a separate editorial that gives the "opposite view" of the president's rhetoric and actions.
The staffers who signed the memo expressed concern that this policy could violate the paper's own ethics policy and damage the newspaper's reputation.
“We understand that Dr. Soon-Shiong has a role in shaping the tone and direction of the editorial board and Opinion section, but we are still bound by the core values and ethics of journalism, including a duty to be transparent and act in service of the public,” the memo said. “We believe we have an obligation to report these under the ethics policy, which states that ‘the primary goal always should be to protect The Times’ integrity.’”
This is not the first time that Soon-Shiong has meddled in the newspaper's editorial process, as he axed the LA Times' endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris shortly before the 2024 election.
These policies have also led to some high-profile resignations from the paper's editorial board.
Patrick Soon-Shiong. Photo by NHS Confederation/Creative Commons.
Patrick Soon-Shiong, the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times, has reportedly implemented even more stringent rules against running editorials criticizing President-elect Donald Trump.
An internal memo signed by LA Times opinion page staffers and obtained by journalist Oliver Darcy claims that Soon-Shiong has barred op-eds that are critical of Trump unless the paper runs a separate editorial that gives the "opposite view" of the president's rhetoric and actions.
The staffers who signed the memo expressed concern that this policy could violate the paper's own ethics policy and damage the newspaper's reputation.
“We understand that Dr. Soon-Shiong has a role in shaping the tone and direction of the editorial board and Opinion section, but we are still bound by the core values and ethics of journalism, including a duty to be transparent and act in service of the public,” the memo said. “We believe we have an obligation to report these under the ethics policy, which states that ‘the primary goal always should be to protect The Times’ integrity.’”
This is not the first time that Soon-Shiong has meddled in the newspaper's editorial process, as he axed the LA Times' endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris shortly before the 2024 election.
These policies have also led to some high-profile resignations from the paper's editorial board.
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