As NewsBusters was first to report, on Friday, Navy veteran Zachary Young had filed a lawsuit against The Associated Press for defamation after they falsely described his Afghanistan evacuation efforts as “human smuggling,” a term the AP Stylebook said was reserved for illegal activity. Over the weekend, U.S. News and World Report retracted their republication of the offending AP article, upon Young’s request.
Under a headline that still read “Florida Jury Says CNN Defamed Navy Veteran in Story About Endangered Afghans,” the news organization tried to distance themselves from the AP while explaining what happened in the CNN trial:
U.S. News & World Report has removed the article previously available at this URL that had been published on January 17, 2025, entitled “Florida Jury Says CNN Defamed Navy Veteran in Story About Endangered Afghans.” The article was reported and written by the Associated Press (“AP”). As an AP subscriber, U.S News regularly republishes multiple AP articles on a daily basis.
The AP article reported on Zachary Young’s defamation lawsuit against CNN. The AP article reported that the jury found that a CNN report on Mr. Young had falsely implied he had engaged in illegal conduct. The article further reported that the jury awarded Mr. Young damages of $5 million and that the case then settled.
U.S. News went on to explain to readers that the AP had wrongly accused Young of “criminal activity” in their report:
The AP article described Mr. Young as a “U.S. Navy veteran who helped rescue endangered Afghans”. The AP article also stated that “Young's business helped smuggle people out of Afghanistan.” Mr. Young subsequently contacted U.S. News and objected to the word “smuggle” as accusing him of engaging in criminal activity.
“In republishing the article, U.S. News had no intention to suggest that Mr. Young’s actions were unlawful,” they noted. “Nevertheless, to avoid any possible misunderstanding, U.S. News has removed and retracts the AP article.”
As the preeminent wire service, many new organizations from local to global often rely on the AP to source stories and reporting in areas they don’t have resources. Incidents like this, where the AP’s journalism was highly dubious, hurt their reputation and might cause other outlets to question what they’re looking to republish.
The defamation suit against the AP was filed in Florida’s 14th Judicial Circuit in Bay County, the same jurisdiction were a jury had found CNN liable for malicious defamation of Young. He also recently filed a defamation suit against Puck News there as well after they made false accusations about Young receiving money from Afghans, and questioning the validity of the jury’s findings on political grounds.
