Nexstar Media Group was quietly dismissed from a blockbuster lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump against 20 news organizations and their parent companies over inaccuracies in how they covered his social media firm Truth Social last year.
The Hill, a publication that covers political matters from Washington, was originally named among the defendants in the lawsuit filed last November, which concerned an inaccurate report that Truth Social had lost $73 million that year.
The reports appeared to stem from one issued earlier by the financial news outlet Reuters, which cited the number to a filing made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A number of outlets picked up on the Reuters story and repeated much of the same information — including the alleged $73 million loss, which appeared nowhere in the SEC document.
The actual loss amount was $23 million, and its aggregate loss was over $30 million during its first two years, according to information reported by the company.
Many of the outlets that reported the erroneous number later updated their stories. But they didn’t fully retract the articles — a practice that would have removed the stories, in their entirety, from the Internet. In November 2023, Trump sued Reuters and a number of other outlets, including The Hollywood Reporter, Rolling Stone, Deadline Hollywood, Benzinga, CNBC, Mediaite, MSNBC and The Guardian, alleging defamation.
The Hill was originally among the named defendants, based on an aggregate write-up authored by its breaking news reporter, Olafimihan Oshin, who cited the Hollywood Reporter. Days after Nexstar and The Hill were dismissed from the case, Oshin was fired by the company, according to Semafor, which first reported the action this week.
Reached through a social media platform on Monday, Oshin said he was disappointed by the dismissal, and wasn’t aware it was tied to the Truth Social lawsuit until after the Semafor story was published. Oshin said he is exploring possible legal action, and declined to comment further.
Nexstar’s spokesperson, Gary Weitman, denied the company fired Oshin to avoid litigation, Semafor reported. The Desk has reached out to Nexstar for comment.
Nexstar is the largest owner of local television stations in the country. While federal law is supposed to limit the reach of local TV broadcasters to no more than 39 percent of the American viewing audience, Nexstar is among several broadcasters that utilize loopholes in existing federal rules, effectuating local marketing agreements with third party broadcasters that cede operational and financial control of their stations to Nexstar while technically owning the assets of the outlets — and their accompanied broadcast licenses — on paper.
Nexstar is hoping to avoid these loopholes in the long term by owning more stations outright, and it has launched a concerted effort to lobby the FCC and its chairman, Brendan Carr, to that effect.
Earlier this month, Nexstar encouraged its local TV stations to air news stories that informed viewers about an ongoing FCC initiative called “Delete, Delete, Delete,” which aims to modify or remove outdated regulations. Viewers were directed to a Nexstar-owned website with pre-written social media posts that, with the press of a button, publishes a message directed to the FCC encouraging them to eliminate federal ownership rules on the basis of supporting local journalism. (The website also gives viewers a way to write their own responses.)
The movement continued last week when Nexstar filed a 240-page dossier with the FCC consisting of letters endorsed by dozens of its local TV station general managers, which also lobbied the agency to eliminate federal ownership rules. Many of the letters contained similar or exact phrases that demonized “Big Tech” and demanded “regulatory relief” as a way for broadcasters to gain a competitive edge over streaming TV services.
—
Editor’s note: This story was updated Monday evening to include additional information about the local marketing agreements Nexstar has with other broadcast station owners, to include additional details on a website used to help viewers contact the FCC over social media. On Tuesday, the story was updated to include remarks attributed to a Nexstar spokesperson as reported by Semafor.
