Company sues BuzzFeed for defamation

BuzzFeed An immigration bond company sued BuzzFeed for $5 million over a cover story it says was “full of false and defamatory statements,” including that it was under federal investigation, reports Tim Ryan of the Courthouse News Service.

Ryan reports, “Plaintiff Libre by Nexus is a Virginia company that acts as a go-between for bail bond companies and people who need immigration bonds.

“A BuzzFeed spokesperson rejected the allegations Monday night.

“‘This entire lawsuit is based on one sentence in our story — backed up by public, government documents — which clearly states that the investigations into Libre were closed,’ the statement said. ‘By any standard, this is obviously not defamatory, and makes this lawsuit likely to fail.’

“In a July 23, 2016 story, BuzzFeed news reporter Adolfo Flores described the company’s business model, which involves Nexus posting collateral for the bond companies and renting an ankle monitor to the bond-seeker, who must wear it until he or she is able to repay a certain portion of the bond.”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.