A Massachusetts teenager and his 24-year-old friend filed a defamation lawsuit against the New York Post Wednesday in Boston, accusing the tabloid of falsely portraying them as suspects in the deadly Marathon bombings by plastering their photograph on the front page under the headline, “Bag Men.”
The lawsuit filed in Suffolk Superior Court said the photographs and articles published three days after the bombings made it appear that FBI agents were pursuing Salaheddin Barhoum and Yassine Zaimi, avid runners watching the Marathon. That evening, authorities released photographs of the suspected bombers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
In the complaint, lawyers for Barhoum, a 16-year-old Revere High School student, and Zaimi, a part-time college student from Malden who also works full time, accused the New York Post of libel, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and invasion of privacy. They are seeking damages, including unspecified monetary compensation.
“The front page would lead a reasonable reader to believe that plaintiffs had bombs in their bags, that they were involved in causing the Boston Marathon bombing,” according to the court complaint. The lawsuit asserts the newspaper subjected the friends to “scorn, hatred, ridicule, or contempt in the minds of a considerable and respectable segment of the community.”
Good for them!
Now if only that Saudi national will sue Glenn Beck for accusing HIM of being the actual bomber, then perhaps we can send a message to certain "news" organizations that flying off the handle with bad intelligence has dangerous, and expensive, consequences.
Good for them. Sloppy reporters need to be held accountable for the damage they inflict when they rush to be first rather than accurate.
ReplyDeleteThe Post will simply use delaying tactics to force these two to spend more and more money on their attorney's fees until they can't afford to continue.
ReplyDeleteAs for Beck, even if the guy DID sue he would simply counter claim it and say he has First Amendment rights. That would require a trial to determine the accuracy of the argument he makes and THEN maybe the original suit could go forward - also with the delaying tactics his lawyers could use.
I hope they get a lot of publicity around this. So-called "news sources" should be made accountable in a big way for such reprehensible actions. Yellow Journalism is what it is; meant to promote hatred and mistrust of a certain ethnic group.
ReplyDeleteWhat's next? Internment camps?
I don't see much argument here. 4:46; it's not the reporters, it's the publishers and editors who HAVE TO GET MORE READERS or their advertisers. What reporters were involved? The editors collected the race photos from photographers and still cameras and had some editorial assistants scan them for men who could pass as dangerous muslims packing explosives; they knew the other tabloids were doing the same thing; everybody on the Internet was doing it!! So the editors decided on these men with complete disregard for the whether they were right, and actually with malice aforethought. Slam dunk case. But not as bad as Richard Jewel's.
ReplyDeleteThere is no first amendment right for slander or defamation. I hope Cry Baby Beck pays - in gold too!
ReplyDeleteThere was SO much bullshit being passed off as news, it was sickening, but the New York Post (aka dollar store single ply toilet paper) was the most egregious for publishing this whopper. These two men are residents of Boston, and although they weren't named, their photos being published put them in real danger, especially considering the gun yahoos stocking up on arms and weapons looking to be "Good guys with guns"
ReplyDeleteCnn, Faux and nbc had to walk back their lies.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/17/cnn-boston-arrests-media-nbc_n_3102680.html
I hate what's become of what was once "The Fourth Estate". I hope they win big, but it wouldn't come close to fixing the damage that's been done.