Senate Hulk Hogan vs. Gawker Media (Definitely A Courtroom Drama)

Right, so Hulk Hogan sued Gawker Media for release of his sex tape in 2012. However, after this and another high-profile case of outing the Conde Nast's CFO, they have since experienced an editorial change, had people resign, and unionized. So this will be interesting to discuss, if only because one of the likely US Presidential nominees wants to make it much, much easier for news organizations to be sued for libel and slander.

DISCLOSURE: I read Gawker sites on the regular!

So, first thing's first: they lost today.

http://www.people.com/article/hulk-...-tape-trial?xid=socialflow_facebook_peoplemag

Here was Gawker's coverage:

http://gawker.com/watch-the-hulk-hogan-v-gawker-trial-live-from-florida-1763260087
http://gawker.com/watch-day-two-of-the-hulk-hogan-v-gawker-trial-1763497039
http://gawker.com/watch-day-three-of-the-hulk-hogan-v-gawker-trial-1763753294
http://gawker.com/watch-day-four-of-the-hulk-hogan-v-gawker-trial-1764009451
http://gawker.com/watch-day-five-of-the-hulk-hogan-v-gawker-trial-1764249589
http://gawker.com/watch-day-six-of-the-hulk-hogan-v-gawker-trial-1764721870
http://gawker.com/watch-day-seven-of-the-hulk-hogan-v-gawker-trial-1764966751
http://gawker.com/watch-day-eight-of-the-hulk-hogan-v-gawker-media-trial-1765213372
http://gawker.com/watch-day-nine-of-the-hulk-hogan-v-gawker-jury-trial-1765450855
http://gawker.com/watch-day-ten-of-the-hulk-hogan-v-gawker-media-jury-tr-1765674578

My take on this is that Gawker absolutely deserved to lose this, and as much as I'd hate to not have them around any more to read, this is what happens when you straddle the line between "entertainment blogging" and "real journalism" and don't understand the lines. Claiming "it's relevant" because "he talks about his sex life" (as I understand the claim) is... not particularly compelling. And the Conde Nast CFO debacle was absurdly irresponsible, as there's no compelling evidence.

The only time I'm ever in favor of publicly disclosing someone's sexual proclivities is if it's directly tied to the hypocrisy of their job, such as politicians actively trying to pass anti-gay, anti-abortion, family values-based laws -- and doing those things they are trying to ban behind closed doors. And even then I am not 100% sure.

And with the upcoming Presidential election, things like this become even more problematic. Libel and slander shields for journalists are in danger, as well as what constitutes journalism in the United States. Who gets press passes? Where do the shields apply? What happens if those shields go away, or are significantly weakened?

 

Uh, excuse me, it's Terry Bollea vs. Gawker Media. The plaintiff does not have a ten inch penis.

 

A children's thermos.

 

I heard their insurance has run out due to all the lawsuits they've had, so yeah, they're done.

 

Yeah, just in general Gawker is way, way less good than Jez in general, so that's not surprising.

 

They're both owned by the same company.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gawker_Media

 

... thanks, Captain Obvious?

Did you look at what Vivs posted above? The two sites are owned by the same people but editorially very different. Even just looking at political posts on Gawker (main0 and The Slot (Jez's political sub-blog) you can tell. When you see me complain about online posters being awful in the 2016 US Presidential Election thread, it's usually Gawker and not The Slot. Also, they own Deadspin (great) and io9 (was great, before they folded it into Gizmodo), etc.

 

$115,000,000

Terry wept.

 

On the next season of American Crime......

 

Good! They ruined Hulk Hogan for many people. And last I checked any mention of The Hulkster was wiped from WWE.com. I love him and hopefully he can get back on track now. Shawn Micheals, Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan. In that order. Best in history!

Dude, do you know how much WWE Network I watched this weekend? I love love love that stuff!

 

I'm...not surprised in the least.

 

LOL. I'm telling you...it's the best!

 

funny that hulk hogan being a disgusting racist wasn't the thing that ruined him for people.

 

That's what I was talking about. Those remarks came from the same tape.

 

right. my point is that gawker didn't make him say those things, and whether he won his lawsuit or not, he's still a disgusting racist.

 

Are you saying that you've never used any kind of a slur in a private conversation? Maybe a fat guy screwed you over and you insult him in a conversation regarding his weight? Or age? Or gender? You don't have an issue with any of these groups, but you slur them anyway?

Never?

 

yes, that's accurate. i never do that.

 

i don't generally talk **** about people. if i do it's their actions or opinions i take issue with, not their appearance or gender or age. sorry it's so hard to believe that everyone's not like you.

 

I can vouch for that actually. I do it, but tom never does.

 

So am I understanding it correctly, everyone is a horrible racist?

 

Avenue Q'd that for you.