Categories: OLD Media Moves

Highland Capital seeks name of author of Dealbreaker post

Highland Capital Management LP on Thursday asked a New York state judge to order the operator of Dealbreaker.com to disclose information that could help it identify whoever posted a comment that the hedge fund firm considered “defamatory,” reports Jonathan Stempel of Reuters.

Stempel writes, “Breaking Media and Dealbreaker were not accused of wrongdoing by Highland, which according to its website has about $15.4 billion of assets under management. ‘Low’land Realist is also called ‘John Doe’ in the court filing.

“‘John Doe’s comment falsely asserted that petitioner stole money from its investors, and engaged in ‘tried and true criminal behavior,” Highland’s lawyer Miguel Lopez wrote in the filing. ‘Petitioner has never stolen money from its clients, or been charged with or convicted of any other crime.’

“Highland is seeking information about John Doe such as his IP address, frequency of posts and any other aliases, to help it pursue its ‘meritorious claim for defamation.’ It said Breaking Media has refused to turn over such information.

“‘Today’s filing is an appropriate next step to obtain the information,’ Highland general counsel Scott Ellington said in a statement.

“Dealbreaker executive editor Thornton McEnery declined to comment.”

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.