GOP and the Challenge to Free Speech

[Dill]

(05-11-2023, 08:23 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: So, giving Trump a platform to spew lies is different than what Fox News did. Fox endorsed the positions rather than just provided a platform or reported on the news. That was what got them into trouble. In this instance, CNN provided the platform and should not face any liability.

Murdoch didn't "endorse" Trump's Big Lie, did he? Nor did the Big Three endorse the Giuliani/Powell claims about Dominion. As I understood it, liability was incurred because their commentators knew the Dominion lie was a lie and repeatedly gave a platform to people they knew were lying without explicitly agreeing with them. No push back amounts to de facto endorsement, I guess.  Had they believed what they were selling, defamation would have been difficult to establish .https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/17/media/dominion-fox-news-allegations/index.html

I agree CNN doesn't face legal liability in this case. Like Fox they allowed someone to push known lies on the air, but their reporter, Kaitlin Collins, disputed many (too many to handle, though). But the uproar which followed giving Trump all that airtime to continue to lie and defame has raised important questions about journalistic responsibility/duty to the public. CNN faced almost universal condemnation from the MSM, including some of their own reporters, for placing Trump in that Townhall format, as if he were merely another guy running for office, whose incitements are not especially dangerous.

So I am wondering how this incident will affect the press' presentation of Trump going forward.

I am also wondering about what is happening at CNN--are they really going after a share of the Fox viewership? They're putting ex-Foxie Kaitlin Collins in Don Lemon's old slot.