Netflix is dropping a thrilling new documentary, “Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press,” that explores the tumult journalists experience and the fight to preserve First Amendment rights in the modern media landscape.
At the core of the film is the court case that came about after Terry “Hulk Hogan” Bollea’s sex tape surfaced online in 2012 on Gawker.com. The landmark case — facilitated financially by billionaire PayPal founder Peter Thiel — subsequently led to the death of Gawker and has left digital media, specifically, even more vulnerable than it was before.
We live in a time when wealthy individuals can abuse public freedoms because they can use their fortune as leverage. The president, a billionaire who paid for much of his campaign with personal funds, frequently refers to major media organizations as “fake news” and “alternative facts.” He’s repeatedly disregarded the sanctity of the press, saying he wants “open up the libel laws” and calling journalists “witch hunters.” So, it’s a crucial moment for journalists to work harder to tell the stories they need to tell and refuse to stay silent.
The documentary explores other situations where wealthy individuals have used their money to aggressively take on the media ― specifically the sale of the Las Vegas Journal-Review. All in all, the doc looks terrifying.
“Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press” is slated to hit Netflix on June 23.
Before You Go
