Can 'fake news' be confronted through the courts? This lawyer says yes

Reliable Sources

CNN

News

3.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 5 October 2018

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Michael Gottlieb, a partner at Boies Schiller Flexner, talks with Brian Stelter about holding news outlets accountable for spreading smears and conspiracy theories. Gottlieb represents Aaron Rich, brother of slain DNC staffer Seth Rich, the subject of countless right-wing conspiracy theories. Gottlieb describes the Washington Times' agreement to issue a retraction and apology for false info it published about Rich. Stelter inquires about the First Amendment implications and asks if the case could serve as a model for fighting "fake news."To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Can fake news be confronted and defeated through the court system?
0:07.0	That's the question for this week's reliable sources podcast.
0:11.0	I'm your host Brian Stelter, and this weekly podcast in between our Sunday
0:15.0	television program is our chance to go more in-depth with media leaders and newsmakers
0:21.0	talking about some of the most important issues for the media industry and the future of news.
0:27.0	This week there was a very important settlement that you may not have heard about. It involved the Washington Times
0:35.5	newspaper and Aaron Rich, the brother of the slain DNC staffer Seth Rich. As I'm sure you know, Seth Rich and the murder back in 2016 has given rise
0:47.6	to all sorts of nutty conspiracy theories. But what happened this week with the Washington Times may point a way forward,
0:57.3	may be a sign of a way to confront these conspiracy theories, and actually make a difference.
1:05.0	Mike Gottlieb is a partner at Boys Schiller-Flexner.
1:09.0	He's the attorney for Aaron Rich and he joins me now from Washington.
1:13.0	Mike, thanks for coming on.
1:14.6	Thanks for having me.
1:16.0	I am desperate for some good signs that maybe there's something we all can do
1:21.8	to confront lies and smears that spread on the web with
1:26.6	incredible virality. This might be an example of that. Why don't you start
1:31.2	for us at the beginning?
1:33.0	Why did your client Aaron Rich sue the Washington Times back in March?
1:37.0	Well, Aaron really didn't want to sue the Washington Times or anyone else for that matter.
1:44.0	Before he filed this lawsuit, he attempted to engage with, and actually before the
1:50.4	Washington Times had published the article that became the subject of the lawsuit.
1:55.4	He attempted to engage with some of the individuals who had been spreading these lies about
	...

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