CNN is defending its reporting after being sued by the Covington Catholic High School teen at the center of January’s viral incident, insisting that the network “reported on a newsworthy event” and was careful to “report on additional facts as they developed.”
In its first public acknowledgment of the legal action, CNN posted a four-paragraph article[1] on its website that said the network was “reviewing the lawsuit,” referring to student Nicholas Sandmann’s defamation complaint filed March 12 seeking $275 million for “false, vicious attacks.”
“CNN reported on a newsworthy event and public discussion about it, taking care to report on additional facts as they developed and to share the perspectives of eyewitnesses and other participants and stakeholders as they came forward,” said the CNN statement in the article posted Thursday.
It was the second lawsuit filed by the 16-year-old from Kentucky and his parents, who sued the Washington Post last month for $250 million over its reporting on the Jan. 18 encounter at the Lincoln Memorial.
Attorney L. Lin Wood of Atlanta, who represents the Sandmanns, faulted CNN for failing to include an apology.
“CNN does not apologize to Nicholas Sandmann, does not acknowledge its violations of journalistic standards, does not admit its sources lied & does not acknowledge its bias. Much more is required to begin to right the wrong,” said Mr. Wood in a Saturday tweet.
CNN does not apologize to Nicholas Sandmann, does not acknowledge its violations of journalistic standards, does not admit its sources lied & does not acknowledge its bias. Much more is required to begin to right the wrong. https://t.co/90MpjsYS1K[2]
— Lin Wood (@LLinWood) March 23, 2019[3]
The Washington Times has reached out to CNN for comment.
CNN’s initial coverage of the incident included a Jan. 19 article headlined, “Teens in Make America Great Again hats taunted a Native American elder at the Lincoln Memorial,” and a Jan. 20 broadcast entitled, “Viral Video/MAGA Hat Teens Taunt Native American at Indigenous Peoples March,”
according to[4] the lawsuit filed in federal court in Kentucky.A Jan. 20 video segment on CNN commentator S.E. Cupp’s show was entitled, “Shameful Act/Viral Video Captures Teens Mocking Native American Veteran.”
Ms. Cupp apologized the next day, tweeting, “Hey guys. Seeing all the additional videos now, and I 100% regret reacting too quickly to the Covington story. I wish I’d had the fuller picture before weighing in, and I’m truly sorry.”
January 21, 2019[5]Hey guys. Seeing all the additional videos now, and I 100% regret reacting too quickly to the Covington story. I wish I’d had the fuller picture before weighing in, and I’m truly sorry.
— S.E. Cupp (@secupp)
The Covington Catholic teens were accused at first of harassing Omaha Nation elder Nathan Phillips, based on a video clip...