This scrappy and snappy documentary explores four important happenings: (1) the first amendment case of Hulk Hogan versus Gawker Media, (2) the financial intervention of Silicon Valley venture capitalist Peter Thiel to make sure that Gawker lost, (3) the susceptibility of the free press to purchases by the rich and the powerful who can silence those institutions that speak truth to power, and (4) President Donald Trump's vehement war on the press. National Public Radio's David Folkenflik and The Washington Post's Margaret Sullivan are on hand to comment on these troubling events. This hard-hitting documentary has opened in theatres and on Netflix.
The end result of the trial of Hulk Hogan's privacy lawsuit against Gawker Media ordered the online outlet to pay $149 million for publishing the sex tape of the famous former wrestler. Things heated up when it was discovered that Hogan's lawsuit was financially backed by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel ($10 million) who was outed as being gay by the website. Gawker has since been forced into bankruptcy.
This controversial case raises the unsavory specter of billionaires using their money and power to influence and/or purchase news organizations. In our age of extreme inequality, the free press is more in danger of being silenced than ever before. Although one of the commentators refers to past interference with the news by moguls such as William Randolph Hearst, this documentary shifts gears to present the story of billionaire Sheldon Adelson's secret take-over of The Las Vegas Review and the disturbing consequences of that process experienced by the staff.
Last but not least is President Donald J. Trump's unrelenting attack on the press. In a clip used in the documentary, he says: "The press are liars."
Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press maps the many ways in which contemporary news organizations are under fire.