PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA — Several CNN staffers who testified on the network a high-profile libel trial against prosecutor Zachary Young spoke out against the on-air apology the outlet offered him.
Young, a U.S. Navy veteran, claims CNN defamed him in a November 2021 report that first aired on “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” suggesting he made illegal money from desperate people trying to flee Afghanistan after Biden administration military retirement, implying that he was involved in “black market” dealings and as a result destroying his professional reputation.
CNN aired an apology in March 2022 after Young issued a legal threat against the network, though he claimed he was unaware of the apology at the time.
“In November, we published a story about Afghans desperate to flee the country who faced paying high sums beyond the reach of average Afghans. The story included an introduction and caption throughout the story that referred to the ‘black market’. The use of the term ‘black market’ there was an error in the story, including the coverage of Zachary Young,” Brown told viewers in March 2022.
“We did not intend to suggest that Mr. Young was involved in the black market,” she continued. “We regret the error and apologize to Mr. Young.”
CNN’s Pamela Brown apologized to Zachary Young on behalf of the network for using the term “black market” in her on-air graphic. (Screenshot/CNN)
Longtime CNN reporter Fuzz Hoganwho was a senior editor in charge of fact-checking the report, said Friday he disagreed that CNN should have apologized, which he repeatedly called a “correction.”
“I didn’t think a correction was necessary,” Hogan said, later adding that he stood by the on-air report and called CNN’s online report “pretty good.”
CNN reporter Fuzz Hogan testified that he “didn’t think the correction was necessary.” (Fox News Digital/Law and Crime)
On Monday, CNN correspondent Alex Marquardt, who led the report against Young, similarly expressed that he didn’t think CNN needed to apologize, but that it was “okay” that it did.
He went on to say he thought the term was accurate to describe the chaotic scene in Afghanistan, something Hogan also expressed in his testimony.
CNN correspondent Alex Marquardt insisted that the term “black market” was accurate to describe the chaotic scene in Afghanistan. (Fox News Digital/Law and Crime)
Three other CNN employees also voiced their opposition to the on-air apology in videotaped statements that were shown to jurors on Tuesday.
When asked where he “agreed” with the apology, CNN producer Michael Conte said “not necessarily.”
“I don’t necessarily know if it’s a mistake to use the term ‘black market,'” Conte said, later adding, “I don’t believe it’s a mistake.”
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Virginia Moseley, CNN’s executive vice president of editorial, testified that she was not involved in CNN’s on-air apology, and when asked if she agreed with that, said “generally, no.”
“The reason I don’t agree with that is that I don’t, as we talked about before, have a negative connotation of ‘black market,’ so I’m not really sure, like I wouldn’t, you know, I don’t think of the black market as a negative connotation, so I wouldn’t agreed with the correction,” Moseley said.
CNN supervising producer Michael Callahan told Young’s legal team that he defines “black market” as an “unregulated market” and how the term applies to the situation being reported in Afghanistan.
CNN Editor-in-Chief Virginia Moseley testified that she disagreed with the apology because she did not think the term “black market” had a “negative connotation.” (Fox News Media/Law and Crime)
The only CNN staffer to offer any on-air defense of the apology was Adam Levine, CNN’s senior vice president of Washington newsgathering, who largely echoed the position of the network’s “legal department.”
“It was a mistake based on the fact that Mr. Young felt and [Young’s attorney Vel Freedman] they reported that it was received by Mr. Young, and they took issue with it. And we felt it was necessary to correct it to resolve the legal dispute, or at least our legal department thought so, Levine said.
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Levine acknowledged that the apology was made in hopes the network would negate “the potential for a lawsuit” from Young, but spent several minutes dodging questions about whether CNN considered Young’s concerns “reasonable” enough to issue an apology.
“This is a decision made for legal reasons, and the correction was issued at the direction of our legal department,” Levine said. “So CNN thinks the legal department’s decision was the right one for the company based on them being our legal department.”
The trial continues on Wednesday and will be broadcast live Fox News Digital.
