OPINION
Premium

Jury Finds CNN Guilty of Fake News, and Axios Continues to Be Bothered by the Outbreak of Free Speech

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Jan 17, 2025
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

Get access to Brad Slager's "Riffed From the Headlines," a daily VIP feature where he looks to bring accountability to the mainstream media. Use promo code POTUS47 to get 74% off your VIP membership!

Reporting on the Mirror – CNN

  • Guess it is time to retire the #FactsFirst hashtag permanently.

In the defamation case brought against CNN, a jury has found the network guilty of defamation against Navy veteran Zachary Young, and guilty of acting with malicious intent. It needs to be noted that the network, and numerous other news outlets, have been scathing in judgment toward Fox News regarding its settlement out of court with Dominion Voting Systems. Jake Tapper was especially full of derision at the time, yet this is worse given that a jury has determined that CNN lied in its journalism, and did so intentionally.

So far, Mr. Young has been awarded $4 million in compensatory professional damages, and an additional $1 million for emotional damages. The next phase of the trial could very well lead to a massive punishment, as the punitive damages will now be considered.

Low-Octane Gaslighting – CNN

Recommended

LAFD Whistleblowers Sound Off. No Wonder Why the LA Fires Got Out of Hand. Matt Vespa
We Know Which City Will Be Targeted First in Trump's Mass Deportation Operation Matt Vespa

  • “You cannot punish us, we are already suffering from our lies!”

In an argument to the jury ahead of the deliberations for the punitive damages, CNN’s lawyer offered up what has to be regarded as a patently ridiculous argument: “Don’t make the punishment too great, otherwise, it could impact the ability to lie in he future.”

Anti-Social Media – WASHINGTON POST

  • These departures are making the layoffs go a bit easier.

Man, it has been a tough month for cartoonists at WaPo. Just on the heels of Ann Telnaes quitting in protest to a cartoon of hers being spiked, the paper loses another, for a far different reason. Darrin Bell has been arrested in California on charges of possession of child pornography.

Making this all the more ironic is that the virulently anti-MAGA artist was not afraid to portray the right in harshly negative depictions, often implying they were the groomers. This is projection of the lowest order.

Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – THE GUARDIAN

  • We know this is a sparsely populated nation, but couldn’t you do any sourcing for your story?

One of the more obtuse news items with Donald Trump has been the talk of the U.S. acquiring Greenland. What had been chalked up to the man’s trademarked bloviating has developed into a story that has taken on validity. So much so that Donald Trump Jr. was actually on a trip to that nation following leadership discussions with the parent nation Denmark.

The Guardian’s Miranda Bryant reported on this arrival and had a breaking story. The claim is that Don Jr. arrived at a swanky hotel with an entourage of natives who were Trump supporters, but then it turned out they were a group of homeless people taken off the streets and given MAGA hats to appear like there was widespread support.

Bryant based all of this on the solitary word of the hotel owner, with no other evidence. Supposedly in the sub-freezing conditions there were scores of homeless people to be found, and they were rounded up with the promise of a free meal. A Don Jr. associate shared his pre-publication conversation with Bryant, who was so roundly ridiculed for her methods that she took down her Xitter account after.

First Amendment Strike Force – AXIOS

  • There is just too much free expression going around.

The ongoing outrage over the taking down of the shackles of speech continues to enrage the press – which says quite a bit. The latest is Axios intoning some type of nebulous warning that the fallout of the decision to remove fact-checkers, and Trump’s rise, along with Elon Musk, is giving rise to a reality that the power players are…now allowed to say stuff.

In bemoaning that CEOs “can say whatever they want now,” the direness is seen in the disappointment that this should not be the case, as we hear that their ability to speak freely now “carries no cost” and they will “suffer no real repercussions for doing so.”

The anger over not being able to punish people for their speech is a revealing concept involving the free press.