The verdict came Friday; here's the backstory, from a decision in March in Fox v. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. by Judge Robert Jonker (W.D. Mich.), allowing plaintiffs' claims to go forward:
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claims → come → Jonker
These cases arise from the fallout over an internal memo that two senior news managers at WOOD‑TV—Amy Fox and Stanton Tang—either wrote or approved regarding coverage of Pride-month events.
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managers → arise → events
According to Fox and Tang, management initially agreed that the memo merely restated corporate policy, but after some colleagues misinterpreted the memo as being anti‑gay—and after the memo was leaked externally—management allegedly shifted its stance and planted news stories that portrayed Fox and Tang as anti‑gay.
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that → accord → Fox
The plaintiffs contend Nexstar did this to cause Fox and Tang to absorb the blame for the controversy while allowing the company to emerge unscathed.
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company → contend → controversy
In early June of 2023, Stanton Tang began to feel concerned about WOOD-TV's coverage of Pride-related events.
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Tang → begin → events
To him, it seemed that the newsroom's approach to Pride coverage differed from its approach to coverage of other events, such as women's history month or black history month.
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approach → seem → month
As Tang tells it, when it came to the latter events, the newsroom tried to approach coverage in a unified way, to ensure that coverage was diversified, newsworthy, and spread throughout the month.
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coverage → tell → month
However, when it came to Pride events, the newsroom was deviating from its typical editorial review process, and many reporters were beginning to go cover stories about Pride festivals as soon as they heard that the event was taking place—without discussing with the rest of the newsroom whether the story ought to be covered, whether it was duplicative of another story that had recently aired, or whether some unique aspect of the story could be explored in a way that highlighted the story's overall newsworthiness.
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that → come → newsworthiness
Tang was also worried that the volume of Pride stories being covered by WOOD-TV news staff was alienating some of the station's more conservative viewers.
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volume → worry → viewers
On the morning of June 13, 2023, Tang shared his concerns with his Assistant News Director, Amy Fox.
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Tang → share → Director
He explained that he wanted to ensure that any Pride‑related reporting included appropriate historical context and that the newsroom was approaching the topic consistently.
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newsroom → explain → topic
To address these concerns, he asked Fox to draft an email to the newsroom.
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he → address → newsroom
Fox did so and then shared her proposed email with Tang.
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Fox → do → Tang
Tang added a few more lines to the email—including a directive for reporters to "get both sides of the issue" when covering Pride events—and told Fox to send the memo to all staff, which she did….
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she → add → which
Many coworkers opposed the memo, and some leaked it to outside media outlets, which reached out to Nexstar for comment.
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which → oppose → comment
Fox and Tang were eventually fired, and Nexstar released two statements that were then quoted by other media outlets:
[1.] Diversity, equity, and inclusion are among Nexstar's core values.
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Diversity → fire → values
Our local TV stations are expected to cover and report the news of the day in an expansive and inclusive fashion, consistent with these values.
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stations → expect → values
We're looking into the situation at WOOD-TV, as the communication regarding the station's coverage of PRIDE month activities in the area is not consistent with Nexstar's values, the way we cover the news, or the respect we have for our viewers.
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we → look → viewers
We will take appropriate action as necessary to address this situation, and apologize for offending members of the LGBTQ community and WOOD-TV's viewers….
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We → take → community
[2.] We can confirm that WOOD-TV made changes to its newsroom leadership team to ensure its ability to continue providing outstanding local news coverage and service to the Grand Rapids community and surrounding area.
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TV → confirm → community
As these are internal personnel decisions involving matters of personal privacy, we will decline further comment.
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we → involve → comment
Nexstar's communications director, Gary Weitman" also responded to media queries by saying, in response to a query about whether the firings were "a result of the investigation into the memo," "I think that's a fair assumption … but again not attributable."
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that → respond → memo
The court concluded that Tang and Fox had adequately alleged that statements about them were untrue:
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statements → conclude → them
Nexstar's theory seems to be that the only potentially untrue statement that the plaintiffs can point to is Nexstar's statement that "the communication regarding the station's coverage of PRIDE month activities in the area is not consistent with Nexstar's values, the way we cover the news, or the respect we have for our viewers."
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we → seem → viewers
However, according to Nexstar, there is no question about the truthfulness of this statement because Nexstar's corporate leadership team is the only group of people that can define what Nexstar's values are and because that leadership team has concluded that the memo was not in line with those values….
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memo → accord → values
First, the record contains evidence from which a reasonable jury could conclude that some members of Nexstar's leadership team did believe the memo aligned with Nexstar's values.
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memo → contain → values
Most significantly, Julie Brinks—the plaintiffs' direct manager—indicated numerous times that she believed the memo was in line with Nexstar's journalistic standards, that it did not discriminate against anyone, and that it was being misinterpreted by some members of the news staff.
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it → indicate → staff
Because Julie Brinks was the person responsible for conveying to the plaintiffs how WOOD-TV was supposed to report the news, a reasonable jury could find her beliefs about the memo and about Nexstar's values and policies especially relevant concerning the question of the statement's truthfulness.
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beliefs → convey → truthfulness
More importantly, though, Nexstar's argument is also flawed because Nexstar fails to recognize that, under Michigan law, a literally true statement can still be actionable.
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statement → fail → law
Often, two true statements can be juxtaposed in such a way that they imply an idea that is false, which, under Michigan law, gives rise to a cause of action for defamation.
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which → juxtapose → defamation
Reighard offers a good example of how this type of defamation—often referred to as "defamation by implication"—typically occurs.
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type → offer → defamation
On February 20, 2019, the university announced that Reighard had been placed on leave and that an investigation was under way.
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investigation → announce → way
The university did not provide any details about the investigation or the reason for Reighard's leave.
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university → provide → leave
Still, an ESPN reporter who had previously authored a book about the Larry Nassar sex-abuse scandal tweeted about the university's announcement in a two-part twitter post.
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who → author → post
The reporter's first tweet read:
Michigan's attorney general announced today her office is taking over an investigation of John Geddert, the 2012 Olympic team head coach and close friend of Larry Nassar.
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office → read → Nassar
Several gymnasts have publicly abused [sic] Geddert of physically and mentally harming them.
And his second tweet read:
On the same day as the AG's announcement, Central Michigan said it was putting longtime gymnastics coach Jerry Reighard on leave amid an internal review.
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it → abuse → review
No details of the review were shared, but Reighard has a long personal and professional relationship with Geddert.
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Reighard → share → Geddert
Read together, the obvious message implied by the tweets is that Reighard was placed on leave in connection with the Nassar scandal.
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Reighard → read → scandal
Because every statement contained in each tweet was literally true, however, the reporter saw no need for a retraction.
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reporter → contain → retraction
So Reighard sued for defamation….
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Reighard → sue → defamation
…and 30 more, not listed.
The Aporia