Panama City, FL – The defamation case brought by Navy veteran Zachary Young has left CNN permanently marked as “fake news” after his victory in court on Friday. As NewsBusters previously reported, the jury of six found CNN did defame Young, that they did it with malice, and they should be punished for it. The ruling spurred CNN to seek an undisclosed settlement. And in the wake of the trial NewsBusters was the first to speak with Young and his lead counsel Vel Freedman.
NewsBusters asked Young what he hoped CNN and the larger media industry take away from this trial:
My message is really just - it’s not vindictive, it never was. I was never trying to get revenge on CNN, but this is obviously something that’s very personal for me, and it has caused a lot of hardship for me and my family. And I wanted to make sure that it was exposed. And I hope that there was some lessons learned from it. And my real goal was to really improve the media in the U.S. and help them be able to be honest with themselves and take a look in the mirror. You know, sometimes change is not easy, sometimes it’s painful. And I think it had a good outcome in that regard.
When asked what the result of the trial meant to him, Young said: “It’s been a long three years and I got the outcome that I wanted. I wanted vindication. I wanted to show what happened. And I was able to do that. It wasn’t a pleasant experience, but it had a great outcome.”
When asked what the result of the trial meant to him, Young said: “It’s been a long three years and I got the outcome that I wanted. I wanted vindication. I wanted to show what happened. And I was able to do that. It wasn’t a pleasant experience, but it had a great outcome.” pic.twitter.com/UkRktN62Ym
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 18, 2025
Noting the lack of media attention until the trial was on going, NewsBusters informed Young of the fans he had accrued over the course of the trial. To them, he said:
I appreciate the support. I mean, that’s really part of what I wanted to do from day one, is really to expose the problem. And it’s really not a problem that’s unique to CNN or any media outlet. I think this is just something that’s need getting progressively worse over the last few decades.
“And I’m just really grateful for anyone who’s been interested enough to cover it, especially to you, being the first one,” he added.
When speaking with Freedman, about broad implication this trial will have for the media at-large, he told NewsBusters:
In part of my closing argument, I said that this is a historic case, this is an opportunity to send a message. And I think - I hope that is the message taken. That, you know, just step back from sensationalized media, report the truth. We want to hear the truth, we want to hear the facts from our media. If you do that, the First Amendment protects you from these sort of results.
When speaking with Vel Freedman, lead counsel for Young, about broad implication this trial will have for the media at-large, he told NewsBusters:
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 18, 2025
"In part of my closing argument, I said that this is a historic case, this is an opportunity to send a message. And I think - I hope… pic.twitter.com/vT6rOnIVI4
In a statement, CNN said:
We remain proud of our journalists and are 100% committed to strong, fearless and fair-minded reporting at CNN, though we will of course take what useful lessons we can from this case.
In reality, CNN put multiple reporters and editors on the stand that refused to apologize, opposed the "disingenuous apology" (to quote a juror) CNN issued, and promised to do it again.
This is forever true: CNN's Jake Tapper, Alex Marquardt, and Katie Bo Lillis defamed Zachary Young.
