An attorney urged jurors on Tuesday to “send a message to the mainstream media” by finding that CNN defamed a security contractor in a 2021 report about Afghan refugees.
Zachary Young is suing the network in Panama City, Fla., alleging that he was falsely portrayed as engaging in an illicit “black market” in the wake of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan by offering to get refugees out the country for $14,500 apiece.
During his opening statement on Tuesday, Young’s attorney, Kyle Roche, argued that CNN’s reporting was “reckless” with the facts, and that the network “set out to destroy Zach’s reputation.”
“They didn’t care about the truth,” he said. “They cared about theater and they cared about ratings.”
Roche argued that jurors can “change an industry” by sending a message that will be heard by “every news…
