this post was submitted on 15 Dec 2024
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Summary

ABC News faces bipartisan backlash after settling a $15M defamation lawsuit with Donald Trump over anchor George Stephanopoulos's inaccurate claim that Trump was "found liable for rape" in E. Jean Carroll's lawsuits.

The settlement includes a public apology, $1M in legal fees, and a $15M donation to Trump’s presidential library.

Critics, including legal experts and political figures, accuse ABC of prioritizing profit over principle, arguing the case was winnable if litigated.

This follows broader debates on media accountability and legacy outlets' handling of defamation lawsuits. Trump denies wrongdoing in Carroll’s related cases.

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[–] Godort@lemm.ee 207 points 6 days ago (9 children)

Was the case winnable? Yeah, almost certainly.

Would the upcoming administration try to get revenge after losing a high profile case like this? Also almost certain.

ABCs bean counters realized that $15M as a donation would be cheaper than trying to fight the government constantly over the next 4 years.

You voted for this.

[–] takeda@lemmy.world 164 points 6 days ago (6 children)

Complying in advance is how we get fascist government.

That is the first lesson in "On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the 20th Century" by Prof. Snyder

This is sign that our media completely capitulated and won't even try to fight to preserve our democracy.

[–] Reality_Suit@lemmy.world 41 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Our media has long been bought. That's through advertising. News should not be allowed to run ads.

[–] Clent@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 6 days ago (1 children)

It was all the consolidation. They're little feifdoms now.

Best we can hope for is some new medium to rise up that they cannot buy out.

[–] Reality_Suit@lemmy.world 4 points 6 days ago

Boom! Fediverse

[–] Godort@lemm.ee 19 points 6 days ago

You're not wrong, but ABC is definitely not trying to fight tyranny. They're a corporation with the sole goal of making money. This has been true of basically any US media company since the Reagan administration.

ABC is looking to literally buy some goodwill so that they can continue to make money after Trump's term.

[–] phx@lemmy.ca 17 points 6 days ago

The country already knowingly voted for the fascists, just under the thought that "they're our kind of fascists"

[–] Xanis@lemmy.world 14 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Traditional media hasn't tried to preserve anything other than whatever spin on a story gets the most views and clicks. Independent media are the ones we all need to look out for and tune into now.

A good example from the tech world is GamersNexus.

[–] takeda@lemmy.world 4 points 6 days ago

Yeah, after reading his books I now scheduled recurring donations for ProPublica, NPR and also an subscribed to a local news paper that still does some real journalism.

[–] trustnoone@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Complying in advance is how we get fascist government.

Apparently we don't have to do anything as advanced as that to get one. Because the American people would just as easily vote one in.

[–] someguy3@lemmy.ca 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

If you're looking for media to fight for democracy, I think you're looking in the wrong place. Media is supposed to present the news. Then people can act on it.

[–] takeda@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

What is happening though is that US news is not presenting the news in an unbiased way.

[–] NotAnonymousAtAll -1 points 6 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

There is no such thing as unbiased news. The best you can hope for is a diverse selection of news sources where the biases mostly cancel out in most situations.

[–] LodeMike@lemmy.today 31 points 6 days ago (2 children)

I actually did not vote for this

[–] zbyte64@awful.systems 20 points 6 days ago

Most people did not vote for this. He did not even get 50% of the popular vote. Let's stop pretending the system doesn't stack the odds against the people. If we did that we wouldn't have been afraid to stack the courts, and so on.

[–] krashmo@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago

I'd bet you would like more action on climate change too and yet the world cares not.

[–] tacosanonymous@lemm.ee 14 points 6 days ago

I don’t see how the payment will stop orange man from punishing them (and other media outlets he doesn’t like) anyway.

[–] Subtracty@lemmy.world 12 points 6 days ago (2 children)

If media conglomerates with millions of dollars don't stand up to him, how can they expect any of us to do so effectively.

[–] A7thStone@lemmy.world 7 points 6 days ago

That's the neat part, you don't.

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 6 points 6 days ago

Would the upcoming administration try to get revenge after losing a high profile case like this? Also almost certain.

Would the incoming administration try for revenge after winning a case like this? Also almost certain.

Dunking on weakness is their entire theme.

[–] Fashim@lemmy.world 6 points 6 days ago

Probably still gonna be fighting the government for the next 4 years

[–] winterayars@sh.itjust.works 3 points 6 days ago

Also the likelihood of it being winnable goes down a lot the moment Trump takes office. I don't like it but i understand the decision. Still, we have to fight.

[–] paraphrand@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago

Justice is too expensive. Maybe the tariffs will fix it.

[–] venusaur@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago

Another perspective is that republicans, democrats and certainly large media companies are all prioritizing profit, polarization and fear.

[–] spector@lemmy.ca 55 points 6 days ago (1 children)

He is the epitome of privilege. A criminal that not only faces no consequences but gets rewarded. A temper tantrum throwing cry baby yet some how doesn't affect his character (to about half the country).

[–] CitizenKong@lemmy.world 17 points 6 days ago (1 children)

He's just the personification of the fall of the US. Basically the Caligula or Nero of this particular empire.

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago

And he can’t even fiddle.

[–] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 12 points 6 days ago (1 children)
[–] Nougat@fedia.io 30 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Because at the time of the judgment, the legal definition of "rape" in the state of New York did not cover what Trump was found to have done to E. Jean Carroll.

Stephanopoulos didn't defame Trump. The legal definition of "rape" in NY was wrong, and I believe it has since been changed such that it would have covered Trump's actions had it been correct at the time of his finding of liability.

[–] resin85@lemmy.ca 13 points 6 days ago

In NY, rape is legally defined as sexual intercourse. If this were in Florida, it would have been legally defined as rape (unwanted penetration with an object).

This was nothing more than ABC paying into trump's protection racket. They absolutely would have won in a trial.

[–] RagingSnarkasm@lemmy.world 9 points 6 days ago

Stop pretending that infotainment channels like NBC, ABC and CBS are still journalism outlets.

[–] inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world 8 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

I mean if Joe Biden could make the excuse that he couldn't let the justice system to take it course, say that the justice system is political, and pardon his son, I mean why in the hell would ABC and George Stephanopoulos run the risk of political retribution also?

[–] billbasher@lemmy.world 1 points 5 days ago

Only their sound bytes are trustworthy to an extent. Even then they’ve probably clipped them to fit a narrative.

[–] can@sh.itjust.works 4 points 6 days ago

Surprise, surprise

[–] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 days ago

Money? Fine. The public apology should have been the sticking point.