Mooselini and the Freedom of the Press (or at least The NYTimes)

Posted on January 24, 2022 by tengrain

The Stupidularity, Otherwise known as the “Scheisskopf Radius” Has Occured

As you may be aware, Sarah Palin is suing the NYTimes and the trial starts today. The issue at hand that Mooselini is claiming is that the Times defamed her in an editorial that made a connection between a map circulated by Palin’s political action committee and a 2011 shooting in Arizona, which killed six people and wounded then-Rep. Gabby Giffords.

The Times clarified and corrected the error, with then-editorial page editor James Bennet acknowledging it was because they were “[moving] too fast.” Sensing blood in the water, Palin moved on them anyway.

Mooselini will depend on her ability to convince a jury of her peers (God help us if they found her peers!) that the Times acted with actual malice: that they knew what they were publishing was false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth.

And so we find ourselves in Bizarro World.

The WaPo says:

First Amendment watchers, take note: Sarah Palin’s defamation claim against the New York Times will go to trial starting Jan. 24 in a New York federal courthouse. At issue is the elasticity of the protections that allow news organizations to present tough coverage of public figures.

Or, to put things a bit more sharply, the case will help demarcate the line between really bad journalism and libelous journalism.

UPDATE 1: CNBC –

  • Former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin has tested positive for Covid, and is unvaccinated, a federal judge told a courtroom Monday just as a civil defamation trial involving the one-time-Alaska governor and the New York Times was set to begin.
  • Palin, who disclosed in March that she had been diagnosed then with the coronavirus, recently said that she will get a Covid-19 vaccine “over my dead body.”

WE ACCEPT YOUR TERMS.

 

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9 Responses to Mooselini and the Freedom of the Press (or at least The NYTimes)

  1. Kiwiwriter says:
    January 24, 2022 at 8:40 am

    If she loses, she plans to take this case to the Supreme Court. Two justices have indicated they want to change the Sullivan decision, but the other seven have not.
    She won’t get her wish under this court — no matter who’s the Chief Justice, they stand pretty firm on Sullivan — but after the 2025 Enabling and Insurrection Acts, the New York Times will be replaced by the Volkischer Beobachter and the New York Post.
    By the way, Rupert Murdoch, in a small bow to the times, has covered up the “Page 3 Girl” in The Sun in England. I guess the pouty Yorkshire 20-year-old girls got tired of disrobing for him.

    Liked by 2 people

  2. roket says:
    January 24, 2022 at 9:40 am

    Oopsie. If she had covid in March, this means you can catch covid twice. Sorry unvaccinated. Another excuse down the drain. Thanks, Sarah.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. tony in san diego says:
    January 24, 2022 at 10:34 am

    Doesn’t the immediate correction mitigate the original publication?

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Oneofthebobs says:
    January 24, 2022 at 11:14 am

    I’ll believe that she really has COVID over her dead body. Why would she tell the truth?

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Redhand says:
    January 24, 2022 at 4:23 pm

    I’ll believe that she really has COVID over her dead body.

    Well, she’s already dead from the neck up.

    Like

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