Losing a high-profile defamation case this week may have been expected within the network, but that didn't stop it from making a mark, a CNN employee says.
“Being found guilty of defamation and breach of trust is bad,” the employee said bluntly in a message to Fox News Digital.
Navy veteran Zachary Young successfully claimed that CNN defamed his reputation by insinuating that he illegally profited from helping people flee Afghanistan on the “black market” during the post-war period. Biden administration military withdrawal from the country in 2021. Young believes CNN “destroyed his reputation and business” by describing him as an illicit profiteer who took advantage of “desperate Afghans” during a November 11, 2021 report that first aired on “The Lead with Jake Tapper” on CNN channel. “.
After a chaotic two-week trial in Florida, the jury awarded Young $4 million in lost profits and $1 million in personal damages, and also found punitive damages justified against CNN. Before the jury could decide on the final amount, CNN and Young reached a settlement.
Zachary Young speaks to Fox News Digital after winning his lawsuit against CNN. (Joseph A. Wolfson/Fox News Digital; Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Jury finds CNN committed defamation against Navy veteran, reaches settlement on punitive damages
Afterward, Young said he felt “vindicated.”
“It's been a long three years, and to get the result we wanted, proven publicly, is an incredible feeling, and I'm glad it's over and we don't have to spend more years and more time arguing.” “About the meaning of the word,” Young said. Fox News Digital Friday.
Although press coverage of the case was initially sparse, as the trial concluded, the case attracted more attention from mainstream media, and Friday's ruling was widely covered.
Young's legal team obtained internal CNN messages through discovery that repeatedly showed employees expressing hostility toward the Navy veteran.
Among those presented to the jury were those who described him as a “s-tbag” and “a-hole”, and another who said he had a “puncture-able face”. He also revealed that Alex Marquardtthe CNN reporter who led the on-air report, told his colleague, “We're going to take this guy down, Zachary Young–er,” who was repeatedly cited during the case, and said the report would be “your funeral, Paco,” referring to Young in an interview. With a colleague.
A CNN spokesperson said the network would learn “useful lessons” from the case.
CNN correspondent Katie Beau Lillis was questioned on the witness stand over her letters to US Navy 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)
“We remain proud of our journalists and are 100% committed to strong, bold, and fair reporting at CNN, though of course we will learn what useful lessons we can from this case,” CNN said in a statement after the settlement.
A CNN employee told Fox News Digital that they do not believe the issues raised in CNN's journalism with this story reflect cultural issues within the company.
“The messages were bad… but I don’t think this is a cultural thing at the network level,” they said. “It seemed to me that he was an overzealous reporter – just someone who thought something was true and framed information in that context… He found information to support that and did not look critically at his own conclusions.”
They added that this comes at a time of poor morale at the network, which is suffering from declining ratings and content Reported pending layoffsThere does not appear to be any internal “rallying” behind the science internally.
A spokesperson responded to reports about CNN's financial health by calling them “very healthy” and pointing to A.J a report It appears that parent company Warner Bros. Discovery was investing more than $70 million in its digital pivot.
Another CNN source told Fox News Digital That private messaging What appeared in the discovery were “damn things.”
Plaintiff Zachary Young won his lawsuit after claiming CNN defamed his reputation by insinuating he illegally profited from helping people flee Afghanistan on the “black market” during the Biden administration's military withdrawal from the country in 2021. (CNN/screenshot)
At another stage of the trial, Thomas Lumley, CNN's senior national security editor, was questioned after internal messages showed he was highly skeptical of the “deeply flawed” report. Lumley was called as a witness after internal messages showed he felt the report was “full of holes like Swiss cheese”.
Another reporter involved in the story, Katie Beau Lillis, admitted that she had not thought about how the clip would affect Young; The plaintiff said that this destroyed his reputation and also had a significant impact on his personal life. Leaving him depressed and castrated.
Several CNN personalities also testified that they disagreed with the network's decision to apologize in 2022 for suggesting Young operated on a “black market.”
“The dismal performance of CNN journalists on the witness stand… weighs on the impact of Young v. CNN,” The Washington Post Written by Eric Wemple. “They stumbled during questioning; failed to defend their key wording choice; and in some cases, as in the case of Lillis, they seemed clueless about the impact of their massive network, which reaches more than 70 million U.S. households.” “.
A former CNN employee, who still works in the industry, said: “CNN should be deeply embarrassed that despite the layers and layers of its editorial staff, they have not been able to perform basic journalistic tasks or overcome the obvious imbalance between arrogant TV stars who are paid “Overpaid and cowardly journalists and editors.” Fox News Digital.
US Navy veteran Zachary Young cried on the witness stand during his defamation trial against CNN. (Jessica Costescu)
CNN's media unit provided sporadic coverage of the case. Media correspondent Hadas Gold Published a short article About the ruling, senior media analyst Brian Stelter made brief reference to the outcome in his Reliable Sources newsletter on Friday, as well as one at the start of the trial on January 6. According to Grabien's research, CNN did not cover the ruling. A lawsuit or jury decision is live.
After the case ended, Young told Fox News Digital that he had no animosity toward the network, but hoped CNN and other media organizations would learn from the experience.
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“I hope they take this opportunity to look in the mirror and realize that, you know, there's room for change and improvement, and if this is the conclusion that CNN came to, maybe others in the media can also see that.” “This is a positive thing,” he said.
