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'Coal King' Is Suing John Oliver, Time Warner, and HBO (washingtonpost.com)
Reader Daetrin writes: Robert E. Murray, CEO of one of the largest coal mining companies in the US, is suing John Oliver, HBO, and Time Warner for defamation (alternative source) over a comedic report on the status of the coal industry in John Oliver's "Last Week Tonight". The report began with the decline of the coal mining industry, Trump's promises to revive it, and the plight of the workers involved, but was also highly critical of the business practices and safety record of Murray Energy Corporation and Robert Murray's leadership of the company. When the company was contacted about the piece before airing they responded with a cease and desist letter and threatened to sue. John Oliver continued with the segment anyway, saying "I didn't really plan for so much of this piece to be about you, but you kinda forced my hand on that one."
Not true. They're much harder to win in the US, yes. But they aren't impossible. If you outright lie, or severely misrepresent something, you can be held liable for it. And lets be blunt, Last Week Tonight is about the laziest "journalism" out there. He's covered some topics that were important to me where the 8th amendment applied and never mentioned it.
It's not journalism, it's a comedy show that mentions current events. If you want journalism, you should find a reliable news outlet.