A defamation lawsuit may kill National Review

[DonViejo]

Conservatism's flagship publication is losing a legal battle that could end in disaster

ELIAS ISQUITH

National Review, the leading right-wing magazine founded by William F. Buckley, is in a world of trouble — and they have one of their most popular columnists, Mark Steyn, to thank.

Steyn, as well as the magazine he writes for, are being sued by influential climate scientist Michael Mann for defamation. Mann took issue with a piece by Steyn in which the columnist accused Mann of fraud and approvingly quoted another right-wing writer, who wrote that Mann was “the Jerry Sandusky of climate science, except that instead of molesting children, he has molested and tortured data.”

Usually, defamation is a charge that’s notoriously hard to make stick in the American legal system. So National Review’s initial response to Mann’s suit was to shrug it off and decline to apologize. But now that Mann’s suit has gone to court, things are looking considerably different. Two separate judges have disagreed with National Review’s argument that Mann’s suit should be dismissed — and now the discovery phase is set to begin.

Most remarkable, however, has been the behavior of Steyn — the one who got National Review into this mess in the first place. Rather than keep quiet and keep his head down, Steyn at one point wrote a caustic blog post which described one of the judges reviewing the case as stupid and incompetent. The predictable result of this brazen act of self-destruction was Steyn’s being dumped by the law firm tasked with defending him. And it looks like the firm is soon to show National Review the door, too.

No matter who’s representing them, however, the outlook for the folks running National Review is grim. Like many political magazines, National Review has a relatively small (but influential) circulation, and frequently loses money. Breaking even is a good year. So a large settlement with Mann, or a penalty handed down by a judge, could prove catastrophic.

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http://www.salon.com/2014/01/30/a_defamation_lawsuit_may_kill_national_review/