To the editor: Shame on ABC News for not challenging the frivolous lawsuit brought by President-elect Donald Trump because a commentator made a one-word slip reporting a news story. Instead, the network settled by paying $15 million. (“How press freedoms could fare under the second Trump administration,” Opinion, Dec. 26, and “ABC agrees to give $15 million to Donald Trump’s presidential library to settle defamation lawsuit,” Dec. 14)
By expert accounts, that suit likely would have been thrown out of court, so I guess ABC News didn’t want the inconvenience and the legal expenses involved with fighting the case. But if the free press will not stand up for freedom of the press, who will?
Thomas Jefferson said, “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.”
Lawsuits like this will proliferate, and each time one is settled, a little bit of liberty will evaporate. ABC News should have stood up and done the right thing. The news organization would have been taking a bold step toward protecting us and our democracy.
Richard Shafarman, Santa Clarita
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To the editor: Op-ed article writer Gabe Rottman is right. Freedom of the press is vital to preserving democracy in this country.
But if many in the American public view the mainstream media as biased, then the press loses its power to be a guardian of democracy. This happens when they “back page” or omit stories that don’t fit their political views.
For many Americans, the press lost its credibility when it downplayed the 2020 summer riots in cities like Portland, Ore., and Seattle, but had Pearl Harbor-like headlines for a disgraceful one-day trespassing at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Maintaining a free press is key to preserving democracy. As I see it, in order for the mainstream media to regain the trust of all Americans, they must end their bias against truths that don’t fit their narrative.
Mark Walker, Yorba Linda
