If there ever was a journalist — and we use that term very loosely in this case — who deserved to be hit with a whopping defamation judgment, it is Alex Jones.
The conspiracy theorist who has richly profited from peddling lies on his Infowars radio show and website was slammed by a jury for the second time this year for widely and repeatedly spreading the unconscionable lie that the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre was a hoax.
This past week, a jury in Connecticut awarded $965 million to some of the families of 26 people who were killed in the 2012 shooting, plus an FBI agent who was among the first responders. And that’s only in compensatory damages. Still to be decided by the presiding judge is whether punitive damages should be tacked on.
The verdict comes two months after a Texas jury awarded $49 million to the parents of another slain child.
In both court cases the jurors rightfully rejected Jones’ argument that he was only exercising his First Amendment rights. What Jones was doing was abusing his platform to make life hell for people who had already suffered terribly by losing family members — including 20 young children — to a deranged gunman’s assault.
Jones knew that his ultraconservative audience was full of gullible people who would buy his wacky theory that the massacre was a hoax, performed by actors as a way to push for gun control. He also knew, or should have known, that some in his audience would act on his deceit, threatening and harassing the victims’ families, and doing so for years.
The judgments against Jones stand to be lowered on appeal. Hopefully they will remain substantial enough to put him and his company out of business.
Those in public office, including a recent occupant of the White House, may be able to get away with vicious lies, but journalists are held to a higher standard. They are expected to report the truth as best as they can determine it. They are expected to correct the record when they err. They are expected to report facts, not falsehoods.
The crusade against Jones should serve as a warning to others in the media who attempt to get rich by trafficking in lies. There will come a day of reckoning, either in this life or the next.
If it comes in this life, don’t count on the First Amendment to shield you from the financial consequences of your betrayal of all journalistic principles. If it comes in the next, you had better hope for divine mercy.
