Many journalists and producers at ABC News are frustrated by the company's decision to resolve a lawsuit brought by President-elect Donald Trump, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
ABC News on Saturday agreed to pay $15 million toward Trump's future presidential library and foundation to settle a defamation lawsuit over anchor George Stephanopoulos' on-air assertion that Trump had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll.
Disney, which owns ABC News, was looking to avoid a protracted legal fight, according to the Journal. But several ABC News staffers are concerned that Disney picked its corporate interests and the White House over its journalists.
"It's really surprising and honestly perplexing that ABC decided to settle at this time and for this amount," Sonja R. West, a law professor at University of Georgia School of Law, told the Journal. "No one wants to send the message to potential future plaintiffs that defamation lawsuits against the press are likely to end with a big payday."
Trump, who has repeatedly called the media "very corrupt," on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the Des Moines Register and its top pollster over a poll shortly before the election that showed Trump trailing in the state. Trump easily won Iowa.
Trump also has cases pending against CBS News over its editing of an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris for "60 Minutes," journalist and author Bob Woodward for misquoting him and allegedly selling tapes illegally, and the Pulitzer Prize board because it awarded The New York Times and Washington Post for its coverage of alleged ties between Russia and Trump's 2016 campaign.
"It costs a lot of money to do it, but we have to straighten out the press," Trump said. "Our press is very corrupt. Almost as corrupt as our elections."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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