Harry Litman - Et Tu, ABC?
In an interview last May about Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit—which ABC settled on very favorable terms to Trump over the weekend—Stephanopoulos said, “Unfortunately, it now comes with the territory. But I’m not going to be cowed out of doing my job because of the threat of Donald Trump.”
That’s mildly encouraging to hear, and I believe him. But it is an empty assurance if Stephanopoulos’s bosses at ABC are cowed by the threat.
And it is even less comforting if reporters who don’t have Stephanopoulos’s prestige and means (that is, 99% of working reporters) and media companies that don’t have ABC's resources(that is, 99% of media companies) opt to blink in response to Trump’s intimidation.
That outcome seems likely in the wake of a settlement that gave Trump a high-profile win in a very losable case. I think it’s pretty clear that ABC—or more precisely, its parent company Disney—wouldn’t have agreed to the sweetheart deal if it were another plaintiff or if Trump weren’t on the verge of assuming the presidency.
https://harrylitman.substack.com/p/et-tu-abc
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