The trial will aim to “hold these companies accountable, and help restore these communities,” co-lead plaintiffs’ lawyers Paul Farrell and Anne McGinness Kearse said.
UK newspaper, more publishers in US sue Google
Those suits follow a pioneering antitrust claim by HD Media, which sued Google and Facebook in January. HD Media publishes the Charleston Gazette-Mail and Huntington Herald-Dispatch and seven Southern West Virginia weeklies.
Judge declines to toss opioid lawsuit as trial set to start next month
Opioid distributors’ last-ditch effort to have a judge throw out Cabell County and Huntington’s claims against them for lack of standing was shot down Wednesday, about a month ahead of trial.
Judge denies summary judgment motion, nuisance case against Big 3 moves toward May trial
“During the May trial for the City of Huntington and Cabell County, we will demonstrate how the defendants, alongside other companies in the supply chain, created this ongoing crisis. Drug distributors ignored their obligations under the Controlled Substance Act and actively pumped pills into American communities like Cabell County and Huntington,” Farrell said.
Judge: Health officials can testify at Huntington, Cabell opioid trial
A federal judge will allow testimony from eight local health officials who defendants accused of fueling the opioid epidemic had tried to block.
Small WV newspaper takes on Big Tech for monopolizing digital media
Charleston Gazette-Mail owner Doug Reynolds discusses the paper’s antitrust lawsuit against Facebook and Google.
Opioid distributors seek to dismiss Huntington, Cabell lawsuits again
Opioid distributors accused of helping to create and fuel the opioid crisis in the Huntington area asked a federal judge again Tuesday to dismiss the case against them ahead of a trial set for May.
West Virginia newspaper sues Facebook, Google for manipulating digital-advertising market
The owner of a West Virginia newspaper has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, and Facebook, claiming they are manipulating the digital advertising market and making it harder for newspapers to survive.
These local newspapers say Facebook and Google are killing them. Now they’re fighting back.
“There is no financial stake large enough,” to make up for what’s happened to the newspaper industry in the past two decades, said Farrell, the lead lawyer in HD Media’s suit against the tech giants. Nationwide, more than 2,000 local newspapers have shuttered since 2004; half of all newsroom jobs have been eliminated. That tragic trend has only accelerated during the coronavirus pandemic, just when the information they provide is most needed.