Of Libel Lawsuits and the Fight Against the Mainstream Media

  Look at the rise of  lawsuits against the press, and wonder at how the right to speak freely is being challenged by those persuaded that the mainstream media is unfair.
  And, since the media is unfair by their way of thinking, they must shut it down when it says things not to their liking, things that they consider libelous.
  Take Sean Hannity and his threat to sue The New York Times. The Times ran an article about one Joe Joyce, who went on an ocean cruise against his children's wishes that he not go. He died of COVID-19, and one of the children reported that the father had watched Fox News and concluded the virus "was under control."
  The writer did bring up a comment in which Hannity called the coronavirus coverage "a new hoax," a comment that took place after the cruise was already underway, but that had been acknowledged in the NYT piece.
   The New York Times responded to Hannity's lawyers by saying, "In response to your request for an apology and retraction, our answer is 'no.' "
   Bless The Times for taking such a firm stand for free speech. Still, the proliferation of such lawsuits makes one wonder. Hannity's is not the first. George Zimmerman came after Pete Buttieg and Elizabeth Warren. Tulsi Gabbard filed suit against Hillary Clinton. Devin Nunez tried to sue Twitter to shut down what he felt were defamatory statements. One America News filed against MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. All though only the suit against MSNBC was against a member of the mainstream media, at least some of the others were surely for things that were printed in the mainstream press.
    And, though all those on that list are lawsuits against the left, there might also be lawsuits against the right that have not come to the attention of this writer.
    If something is printed that truly is false, and not just damaging, then surely it is right to sue. But, of the list of actions above, none have yet been found traction in the courts, which indicates they were frivolous and unwarranted. But, if the pressure grows enough that we start censoring that which shouldn't be censored, that could crumble. And, if that happens, America's free speech will crumble to the same degree.