#CSOM What Happens When the Media Settles?

ABC News agreed recently to pay $15 million toward the president-elect’s presidential library to settle a defamation lawsuit over anchor George Stephanopoulos’ inaccurate on-air assertion that he had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll.

Defamation is a statement that injures a third party’s reputation. In the United States, public figures have a higher standard to prove defamation than private individuals because of the First Amendment’s protection of free speech.

With great power comes great responsibility. It may be impossible to have a totally impartial media. But it is essential for the media to differentiate between fact and opinion and for its journalists and editors to do everything they can to verify those facts.

Did Stephanopoulos knowingly share inaccurate information? Should he have expected his bosses to have his back?

What will this settlement mean going forward for media outlets? Will journalists hesitate to include items in their stories that might be considered defamatory?  Will there be new guidelines for what can and cannot be said about public figure?

Adrian and I get into this episode of Copper State of Mind.

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