Jackson Walker partner Stacy Allen was recently interviewed on the evening edition of KSAT 12 news in San Antonio.

The story examines the fake news phenomenon and how it has led to uncertainty in the media industry. Fake news has flourished on social media, thriving on audiences’ tendencies to ‘share’ stories without checking them for validity. This trend intensified during the presidential election cycle, when fake news stories exploited readers’ political biases with false stories about politicians, candidates and parties.

Now that Donald Trump has been elected, many in the media industry fear that Trump will pursue policies to punish legitimate news organizations who report honest news. Based on Trump’s history of conflicts with the media, the concern is that he could use his office to challenge the long-standing tradition of protection for the press. According to Stacy, however, though there are ways that Trump could do this, there is a slim chance that this will actually happen.

Stacy, who has defended several media organizations against libel and defamation claims, points to New York Times vs. Sullivan as the basis for precedent on this topic. This landmark Supreme Court case requires that a public figure prove that a news media defendant acted with “actual malice” when publishing an otherwise defamatory story, making it very difficult for a public figure to succeed in proving libel against a news organization.

“It would be highly unlikely that even a highly-motivated president could unwind not only Sullivan, but the 50-plus years of precedents that have followed and fleshed out that protection for the news media,” Stacy told KSAT.

Stacy reiterates that Trump would not be successful in any effort to overturn the tradition of legal protection for the media.

“If he really chose to pursue that path, he would (not) have any success in changing a well-established body of law that exists to protect the press’s ability to aggressively question and pursue stories about public officials with the recognition that [it] is a fundamental bulwark of our democracy and our form of government,” he said.

For more information, watch the full video at KSAT-12.

About Stacy Allen

Stacy Allen represents a wide array of sophisticated commercial clients throughout the country. His media law practice is focused on defending media companies and news organizations against defamation and privacy tort claims, and he regularly provides pre-publication review and other risk-avoidance counseling to various news organizations. Stacy also practices intellectual property litigation, defending against class actions and other commercial lawsuits and arbitrations. He is a Committee Member with the Media Law Resource Center and serves on the Austin Steering Committee for the Anti-Defamation League.