Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press

Description

In 2012, Gawker editor AJ Daulerio received an anonymous tip about a sex tape involving pro-wrestling legend Hulk Hogan and the wife of his best friend and Florida radio personality Todd Clem (better known by his nom de shock-jock Bubba the Love Sponge). Given that the recording featured Hogan and Heather Clem engaged in an explicit sexual act, Daulerio ran a news post featuring a two-minute video clip of the tape—typical content for Gawker audiences. The resulting trial would bankrupt Gawker Media and founder Nick Denton, shuttering the once powerful truth-to-power media entity. What was disturbing, however, was the revelation that a Silicon Valley heavy hitter had been bankrolling the trial with the intent of hitting Gawker where it hurts—and that the case has now set a precedent for billionaires (including our current President) to attack our democratic ideals of journalism in the most damaging ways possible. Documentarian Brian Knappenberger not only offers an invaluable autopsy of the now infamous Bollea v. Gawker case—he also lays out his own case for how the Fourth Estate (and the First Amendment) is now actively under attack. Also examining casino magnate Sheldon Adelson’s conflict-fueled purchase of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Donald Trump’s ongoing “enemy of the people” war with any muckraking media that disagrees with him, Nobody Speak is a cautionary tale that is, in the ultimate display of irony, torn from today’s headlines. —David Fear

After the screening on April 6, there will be a conversation with Vickie Baranetsky from Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Gennie Gebhart from Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Amy Pyle from the Center for Investigative Reporting.

Film Details