“There is a concerted effort by mostly conservative lawyers out there — not all conservatives but mostly — to try to rein in the legal protections that New York Times v Sullivan gives the press to make these honest mistakes,” Peters said.
New York Times Company v. Sullivan is a Supreme Court case from the 60s that gives the press wide leeway to cover public figures, protecting news outlets from liability if mistakes are published unintentionally.
Peters claimed this is a legal protection conservatives would like to undo in order to force news outlets to “have to pay for these kinds of mistakes.”
“The First Amendment allows you to make mistakes,” Peters said. “News organizations who make mistakes honestly shouldn’t be litigated out of existence.”
Moghe said that covering the trial from the perspective of a journalist has been anxiety-inducing.
“You have all of these journalists describing the worst possible scenario — making a mistake — and not only a mistake, but a mistake that accuses someone of inciting the murder of six people,” Moghe said.
Peters said that Palin is back in the public eye in a way that is “wholly fitting” with her political persona. In that sense, Stelter said, Palin wins either way.
“She waged public battles with figures like Katie Couric, The New York Times, CNN in a way that predated Trump,” Peters said.
CNN’s Sonia Moghe contributed to this report.
