Media ignores CNN settlement with Covington teen
CNN settled a multimillion-dollar defamation lawsuit filed by Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann; reaction and analysis from Fox Nation host Tammy Bruce.
Fox Nation host Tammy Bruce slammed several mainstream media outlets for their failure to report on CNN's recent settlement with Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann after a report by the Media Research Center showed ABC, CBS, MSNBC, and NBC, completely ignored the news.
ABC, CBS, NBC IGNORE CNN SETTLEMENT WITH COVINGTON STUDENT
"When you’re looking at the spectrum here… you’re seeing a media that, in a way, horrifically, can't even report the news because they see themselves suffering some consequences" Bruce said Tuesday on "Tucker Carlson Tonight."
Sandmann and his classmates were swept up in a national controversy in January 2019 after a video clip depicted the "MAGA" hat-wearing student smiling at Native American Nathan Phillips. The man was beating a drum and chanting as he was surrounded by Sandmann's peers, who had joined in on the chant in front of the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Several mainstream media outlets -- including CNN -- portrayed the incident as racially charged before additional footage showed that a group of Black Hebrew Israelites provoked the confrontation by slinging racial slurs at the students. Footage then showed Phillips, who was in town for the Indigenous Peoples March, approaching the students amid the rising tension between the two groups.
CNN SETTLEMENT WITH COVINGTON STUDENT NICK SANDMANN A WIN FOR THE 'LITTLE GUY,' EXPERT SAYS
NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck wrote that CNN settled with Sandmann “for an undisclosed amount after they tried to ruin his life” but the liberal cable network “had help with blackouts” from ABC CBS and NBC.
Law school professor William A. Jacobson told Fox News that CNN agreeing to settle is a “rare example of a 'little guy' being able to stand up to a media behemoth” and estimated the deal was worth at least seven figures. However, viewers who rely on network news would have no idea.
"They've noticed and they've chosen to not cover it," Bruce said. The reason the media hasn't covered it is because many of them ... did very similar things to this young man."
Sandmann’s attorney, Todd McMurtry, told Fox News that lawsuits against “as many as 13 other defendants will be filed in 30 to 40 days," among them ABC, CBS, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, NPR, Slate, and The Hill.
Bruce applauded Sandmann's attorney for representing the minor, and credited the lawsuits for "keeping the powerful in line."
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"As long as the media is willing to destroy all minors, of course, it tells you that they are willing to do it to anyone at this point," Bruce said.
"Lawyers and suing is not necessarily my favorite thing," she continued, "but the fact is that this is one way to keep the powerful in line. Especially media when they have not only abandoned their job and their responsibility, they have turned themselves into a mob of wolves and are willing to rip anyone apart. It's going to have to stop."
Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.
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