The Tennessee

Glenn R. Funk is the District Attorney General for Davidson County, Tennessee. Scripps Media, Inc. (“Scripps”) owns and operates the television station NewsChannel 5, WTVF in Nashville, and Phil Williams is the station’s chief investigative news reporter. NewsChannel 5 broadcast news stories on February 3 and 4, 2016, which are at the center of this case. The news stories reported on allegations the real estate developer David Chase made against several individuals in a civil lawsuit filed in Williamson County and against other individuals and a governmental entity in a federal lawsuit filed in the Middle District of Tennessee. Mr. Funk filed a complaint against Scripps Media, Inc. and Phil Williams (together, “the Defendants”) after the first news story aired, and he filed an amended complaint following the second news story to include allegations related to the second story. According to Mr. Funk, the news stories alleged that he extorted money from a criminal defendant, solicited a bribe, and blackmailed a criminal defendant into dismissing a civil lawsuit. When Mr. Funk filed his amended complaint, he served a set of interrogatories, requests for documents, and requests for admission upon each defendant.