Did CNN s Stelter Shatter The Sandmann Confidentiality Agreement? JONATHAN TURLEY
There is an interesting fight brewing between the lawyers for Covington Catholic High School student Nichola Sandmann and CNN. We recently discussed how the Washington Post reached a settlement with Sandmann and how many in the media are still abusing this teenager despite the fact that he was not, as reported, the aggressor in an incident with a Native American activist in front of the Lincoln Memorial. The posting notes that CNN also reached a confidential settlement. Now, however, CNN s chief media correspondent Brian Stelter and its legal analyst Asha Rangappa have commented on the settlement dismissing it as involving just a small payment to end a nuisance lawsuit. Sandmann s counsel Lin Wood has cried foul that this is a violation of the confidentiality terms which bar public comments on the agreement. Yet, Stelter and Rangappa are put on the air to discuss public controversies. These agreements are designed particularly to prevent comments to the media, but what if the party is the media? This is a major public controversy. The question is whether analysts discussing a news story is the same as CNN as an entity discussing terms of the agreement or disparaging the settlement. Wood clearly believes so.
Wood objected to a retweet from Stelter of a tweet from attorney Mark Zaid, who wrote Those with zero legal experience (as far as I can tell) should not be conjecturing on lawsuits they know nothing about. What kind of journalism is that? I ve litigated defamation cases. [Sandmann] was undoubtedly paid nuisance value settlement & nothing more.
It is a rather ironic tweet since presumably Zaid has no knowledge or involvement in the settlement. Whatever kind of journalism or lawyering is involved, there is no way for any of us to know what was paid to Sandmann.