New York Times: New York Times found not liable in Sarah Palin defamation lawsuit

Amid the hostility toward and censorship of newsrooms - not to mention billionaires turning storied institutions into chum buckets - throughout the country, a jury found The New York Times not liable for defaming Sarah Palin in a 2017 editorial. The editorial in question, written by then-opinion editor James Bennet, was in response to the 2017 congressional baseball shooting , when a 66-year-old man shot four people, including Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. The piece attempted to correlate the pro-gun rhetoric of Republican politicians to mass shootings, pointing to Palin's political action committee, which the piece argues was connected to a 2011 shooting. No link was established, and the Times issued a correction, prompting Palin to sue the paper. It went to trial in 2022, and while the jury was deliberating, Judge Jed Rakoff tossed the case because, in his estimation, Palin failed to establish any malice on the Times ' part. Palin's lawyers appealed and found sympathy in a three-judge appellate panel, which disagreed with Judge Rakoff, setting the stage for a new jury to clear the Times . This won't be the last time a Republican operative or politician will sue the nation's news sources for libel or defamation. After all, the President of the United States is suing 60 Minutes for $20 billion over a Kamala Harris interview several months back, jeopardizing the show's future and CBS's broadcasting license. Earlier today, the show's top producer, Bill Owens, quit , citing the loss of autonomy in the face of the Trump lawsuit and its adverse effects on running the show. [ via Deadline ] More from A.V. Club