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Home Front: Culture Wars
Friday Night Dump: WaPo issues "editor's correction" on Covington Boys Story
2019-03-02
"Too late". A $250M defamation lawsuit wonderfully focuses one's mind, don't it?
[NY Post] The Washington Post on Friday issued a lengthy editor's note concerning their story about the Covington Catholic controversy, acknowledging that "a more complete assessment of what occurred" emerged after its initial story.

The editor's note concerned a Jan. 19 report about the incident involving a confrontation between Kentucky high school student Nicholas Sandmann and a Native American activist near the Lincoln Memorial the previous day.

"Subsequent reporting, a student's statement and additional video allow for a more complete assessment of what occurred," the editor's note read.

The note comes 10 days after Sandmann filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against the The Washington Post claiming its story led to a "mob of bullies which attacked, vilified & threatened" an innocent minor.
Posted by:Frank G

#7  Nobody wants to assume the WaPo Pension debt
Posted by: Frank G   2019-03-02 18:44  

#6  What if Bezos just says,'Screw it, you can keep the paper if you want it, kid'.

Then said kid turns around and sells the paper to The Babylon Bee for a dollar. So much winning!
Posted by: SteveS   2019-03-02 13:09  

#5  But, to me, the primary indicator of reckless disregard is that this story was not even newsworthy in the first place. Any legitimate news organization, any reporter with any sense, would have told that crazy old Indian to take a hike when he came to them with this non-story. But WAPO didn't because they wanted to make it look like all Trump supporters are racists...no matter what it does to a 16-year-old. That's why $250 million is not enough. Good thing for Bezos that I won't be on the jury.
Posted by: Abu Uluque   2019-03-02 12:44  

#4  Since all they had to do to avoid this unpleasantness was to make a few phone calls, and they didn't, there is a strong case for reckless disregard for the truth. Then, when you consider the internet lynching that included death threats, that disregard was likely to result in harm to the victim. WAPO is on shaky legal ground here.

And I don't care if $250 million is what Bezos paid for that rag. He's the richest man in the world and should have to pay a helluva lot more...a billion at the very least...more like $10 billion to make sure he never does it again.
Posted by: Abu Uluque   2019-03-02 12:37  

#3  What if Bezos just says,'Screw it, you can keep the paper if you want it, kid'.
Posted by: Cesare   2019-03-02 10:42  

#2  ...Yeah, the Covington lawyer already said, "too little, too late."

And FWIW, IMHO the Post going this far is an indication that they are concerned, and seriously so at that.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2019-03-02 09:13  

#1  The non-apology 'correction'. I'm pretty sure a Kentucky jury can define that in dollars.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2019-03-02 08:28  

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