Vice subpoenaed in Alabama defamation and racketeering cases

Vice Media was subpoenaed on July 2, 2021, by a Birmingham, Alabama-based coal company for unedited audio recordings and other materials from a podcast series the outlet produced. A federal judge ordered Vice to turn over the materials in March 2022, according to court filings reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.

In the underlying lawsuits, Drummond Company, an Alabama-based coal firm, sued lawyer Terry Collingsworth for defamation and later filed a case against him under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, alleging that he had paid witnesses to testify that Drummond was complicit in the killings of miners and union leaders in Colombia, where it had a subsidiary.

Vice explored those killings in a March 2021 podcast series, “The Crisis.” The July subpoena, filed in federal court in Alabama, initially sought a wide range of materials related to the production of the series. After the deadline passed on Aug. 2, Drummond offered to narrow the legal order to only Vice’s unedited interviews with Collingsworth and two other individuals.

Vice rejected that offer, and the plaintiffs Dec. 15 filed a motion to compel the media outlet to comply.

In a Feb. 8, 2022, court filing, Vice opposed Drummond’s motion to compel, arguing that the information sought by the company was protected by journalists’ privilege because it was available from alternative sources and because the company did not justify why the materials are necessary for it to make its case.

Vice also noted that two of the interviews sought by Drummond were with witnesses testifying in Colombia against company executives charged in connection with the murders, and that turning over their unpublished interviews could have a chilling effect on future sources coming forward.

U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor in the Northern District of Alabama disagreed with Vice’s argument, ruling March 7 that the unedited interviews were likely relevant to a significant issue in the case — that the defendants were engaged in a criminal enterprise to spread false allegations about Drummond — and that the materials were not reasonably obtainable from other sources. He ordered Vice to comply with the subpoena by March 31.

Vice and its attorneys, Rachel Strom and Raphael Holoszyc-Pimentel, did not respond to requests for comment.