Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press

From left: John Pendygraft-Pool / Getty Images; Alex Wong / Getty Images; Asa Mathat for Recode; Bill Pugliano / Getty Images

Brian Knappenberger is a documentarian who focuses on big stories of corruption that go unnoticed, as they take place either on the internet, or are buried in other, more lurid stories. Like his documentaries The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz and We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists, this is a story of injustice that created a ripple effect that took down Gawker, and created precedent to silence the free press. Weirdly enough, it all started with Hulk Hogan, a hidden camera, and a gossip site.

Let’s get this out of the way: Gawker was somewhat vile. It was a site set up by pushy, arrogant, hate-filled people who wanted to poke fun at the elite and the powerful. A lot of the articles shamed famous people by being overtly cruel about things like being closeted, being bald, or no longer being relevant. The reason the site was beloved for so long stemmed from some incredible investigative journalism, including the video of Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack, an expose of The Silk Road, the unmasking of the violent Reddit troll Violentacrez, and the original allegations against the recently outed Louis C.K. There were also great series and columns, and a lot of think pieces about gentrification, racism, and internet scams.

So yes, Gawker was definitely asking for a lawsuit throughout its run. In 2012 Gawker published two minutes of a sex tape featuring Hulk Hogan (aka Terry Bollea), and he sued them. In 2016 Gawker had to pay Bollea $31 million in damages, which bankrupted the site, closing it forever. Sites such as Slate, Buzzfeed, and Wired were quick to admonish the former wrestler and publish lists of Gawker’s best articles and exposes. Understandably, anyone looking from the outside in would think this was an open and shut issue, if it wasn’t uncovered that the lawsuit was financed through billionaire Peter Thiel. Thiel was upset by a past Gawker article, and used his clout and resources to make sure Bollea bankrupted the site. This issue is heavily covered in the documentary, and has raised the question: If we don’t allow all free speech, are we inviting censorship on other alternative forms of media?

Also at the heart of the doc is the case of the influencer Sheldon Adelson secretly buying the Las Vegas Review-Journal and trying to influence what news went to print. In an age where the President has started blustery debates on “fake news” and no one is trusting of what anyone says, this is a serious issue. Toxic, megalomaniac influencers don’t want you to know you are being taken advantage of, and the first way they stop their own demise is by saying their detractors are the ones who lie. Truth is important. Facts are important. The press has never been the enemy. That’s why we have an amendment in our Constitution that protects them from censorship. It feels strange to push a documentary on a sex tape that should never have seen the light of day, but in all honesty this is required viewing.