Navy Vet Claims CNN Destroyed His Reputation

Attorneys for a U.S Navy veteran said Tuesday that their client’s reputation and earning power were destroyed by a 2021 CNN report on war profiteers following the U.S. military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, reports The LA Times.

Zachary Young sued the network over a Nov. 11, 2021 story by chief national security correspondent Alex Marquardt about how Afghans were being charged exorbitant fees for assistance in getting out of the country.

The security consultant, whose background includes a stint with the private military contractor Blackwater, says the four-minute video package falsely portrayed him as acting illegally.

Zachary Young

Young, who heads his own Boca Raton, Fla.-based company, was hired by corporations to get their employees out of Afghanistan, advertising his services on LinkedIn. His attorneys said his annual income went from $350,000 a year to zero after the report ran on CNN’s channels and website.

The jury in the trial, heard in a Bay County, Fla., court, will be asked to determine whether CNN journalists acted with actual malice, which is defined as the publication of false information with reckless disregard of the truth. If jurors find CNN liable, they can award Young monetary damages for loss of business income and emotional distress.

Media companies typically settle defamation trials before they get to court, even if it’s expensive to do so. Last year Fox News paid $787.5 million to Dominion Voting Systems over false statements made about the company while reporting on President-elect Donald Trump’s claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election. Fox wanted to avoid the embarrassment of its executives being called to the stand.

But CNN is standing by Marquardt’s report. The defamation case tests how the public perceives mainstream media amid constant right-wing attacks on its credibility.