Can Freedom of the Press Survive David Pecker?
Updated at 7:27 p.m. ET on February 11, 2019.
American Media Inc. admitted to breaking campaign-finance laws when it coordinated closely with Donald Trump’s lawyer in paying for, then burying, a story about an alleged extramarital affair. Its problem was fundamental. It was not engaged in the performance of the journalistic function on which the press’s constitutional and legal protections depend.
Once AMI chose to subsidize a presidential candidacy, it was subject to the legal restrictions and requirements that apply to super PACs and political-action committees. Now the company faces more legal trouble after using the acquisition of personal materials to pressure a critic of its publishing activity, Jeff Bezos, into silence. In other words, it did not cover this story: It engaged in what looks like extortion to suppress it.
This is a case study of the legal exposure that can result from failure to , owned by Bezos, editorialized, AMI should face the consequences of not engaging in “legitimate journalism” in threatening Bezos. And Bezos, in his
