A jury in Florida on Friday found CNN liable for defaming a private security contractor in a five-minute segment that ran on the network in November 2021.
The jury ordered the company to pay at least $5 million in damages, and an additional amount in punitive damages that has yet to be determined.
The decision came after a two-week trial in a Panama City, Fla., courtroom, where lawyers for the contractor, Zachary Young, argued that the network had falsely accused him of illegally participating in a “black market” for exfiltration services in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of American forces.
The segment, narrated by the correspondent Alexander Marquardt, focused on contractors who, the network said, were charging exorbitant fees to evacuate Afghans.
Mr. Young, a Navy veteran, was the only contractor featured by name in the segment. He said he had provided his services to major corporations seeking to aid employees in Afghanistan, and that his prices were fair. He said that the segment ruined his reputation and harmed his business.
CNN said its report did not assert anything false about Mr. Young. In 2022, the network issued a correction, saying it regretted the use of the term “black market,” and that the phrase was intended to refer to unregulated activities, not unlawful ones.
A CNN spokeswoman on Friday that the company would wait to comment until after the jury orders the network to pay any punitive damages.
The post CNN Ordered to Pay at Least $5 Million for Defaming Security Contractor appeared first on New York Times.
