CNN is fighting to keep the public’s eye off its internal news standards guide amid the $1 billion defamation suit brought against the cable news outlet.

Organizations like the New York Times and the Associated Press normally make their journalistic standards public but CNN has reportedly asked a court to seal theirs, thus blocking public viewing.

Back in August, the cable news network was given 14 days to turn over its journalistic conduct and social media guidelines amid the defamation suit brought by Navy veteran Zachary Young who “alleges that CNN smeared him and his security consulting company, Nemex Enterprises Inc., by implying it illegally profited when helping people flee Afghanistan during the Biden administration’s military withdrawal from the country in 2021,” Fox News reported.

CNN refused to turn the documents over, arguing that discovery was already closed in the ongoing lawsuit.

Young alleges that CNN “destroyed his reputation and business by branding him an illegal profiteer who exploited desperate Afghans” during his appearance on “The Lead with Jake Tapper” in 2021.

In one filing, Young’s attorney Vel Freedman told the court that “CNN also objected to producing the journalist conduct guidelines because the request was somehow unduly burdensome, vague, overbroad, and the seeks commercially sensitive or privileged information.”

“The court appeared to meet both parties halfway. In ordering them to be turned over, citations of the journalistic conduct guidelines needed to be redacted in publicly available documentation, which results in filings that look like Swiss cheese,” Newsbusters reported, adding that the public can still “put the pieces together and see that CNN reporter Alex Marquardt, and those who worked on the story, ignored their own guidelines on how to put a story together.”

“CNN’s guidelines warn that reporters should [Redacted]. In this case, CNN employees’ grossly unprofessional internal communications confirm that they had a predetermined goal for the story: to ‘nail’ Young, something other CNN employees said they would ‘hold’ Marquardt to,” the filing read.

“CNN not only failed to allow Young sufficient time to comment on the story but allowed its own reporters to present a biased (and incorrect) narrative without even verification of accuracy, let alone a counternarrative,” Freedman noted.

“When a CNN editor attempted, fruitlessly, to impose any sort of controls on the process, Marquardt became [redacted] and took steps to bypass that editor’s input,” the attorney added. “When Young informed Marquardt of his intent to bring legal action against CNN should CNN publish false and defamatory statements… Marquardt allegedly failed to inform CNN’s legal team.”

This filing contends that the seeming evidence of CNN’s own reporter disregarding the network’s guidelines will help prove the defamation liability.

Freedman wrote that CNN’s “repeated and systematic failure to follow many of its own internal guidelines constitute further evidence a jury should consider when determining if CNN intentionally or recklessly published these defamatory falsehoods” about Young.

“Plaintiffs respectfully request that this Court deny CNN’s Motion for Summary Judgment on punitive damages,” Freedman wrote. “Plaintiffs have established that there are genuine issues of material fact about CNN’s actual malice, intentional misconduct, and gross negligence.”

• About
• Latest Posts

Frieda Powers

Senior Staff Writer
Frieda@bizpacreview.com

Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.

Latest posts by Frieda Powers (see all)

• 221 DEAD people received federal housing aid in Colorado— Trump admin. demands answers - December 18, 2025
• Cruise Line official pushes back on ‘nonsense’ drink package limit - December 18, 2025
• Border Patrol Chief and progressive mayor clash during street confrontation - December 18, 2025

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.