The national news media jumped on the incident in January outside the Lincoln Memorial where Kentucky Covington Catholic High School students were supposedly mocking a Native American elder who said he was confronting the students to prevent hostilities between the students and the Black Hebrew Israelites, a group known for its hatred of whites, gays and Jewish people. Objecting to the coverage in the Washington Post, student Nicholas Sandmann filed a $250 million defamation suit. One lawyer said the lawsuit claimed the Post depicted the students as bullies in their MAGA hats when the reality was more nuanced. But others say the lawsuit is written more like a story complaint to describe events rather than to make legal points. (The Wrap, February 20, 2019, by Jon Levine)
Legal experts think Sandmann’s lawyers will not be able to meet the Times v. Sullivan “actual malice standard” showing a reckless disregard for the truth or falsity of the Washington Post’s reporting. In addition, some of the statements challenged in the lawsuit are opinions and as such not defamatory. (VICE News, February 21, 2019, by
Emma Ockerman)
Journalism professor Jeffrey Layne Blevins, The Cincinnati Enquirer, February 21, 2019, argues that aside from the legal action, it is important to temper exaggerated opinions against the students and the media. He writes that the social media favors short, sharp takes on the news that can raise emotions. It falls to the news media, particularly local news media, to present more depth and detail to enable a truer interpretation of events. The elder did walk into the group of students perceived by students as a call for them to stand firm, but the students responded in part with a racist “tomahawk chop.”