It's getting ugly out there, as Jack Cafferty would say. Cafferty and CNN's innate ability to annoy China has already led to criticism, protests and executives from the US network being summoned to a meeting by the Beijing government.
Now, the fight is moving to the courts.
Lawyers upset by Cafferty's reference to 'the Chinese' as 'goons and thugs' say CNN has harmed the their reputation. 14 aggrieved legal eagles have now filed a lawsuit with the Chaoyang Court in Beijing.
Beijing Huanzhong & Partners, a Beijing-based law firm, demand that CNN and Cafferty cease what they termed 'harmful acts', issue a public apology and pay each of them 100 yuan (€9.02) in compensation for mental distress.
Presumably the level of distress wasn't too severe or they'd be asking for a full €10. Of course, they will claim that the low level of the compensation demanded proves this is a point of principle rather than cash.
A cynic might suggest the law firm will make a few quid from the court case just by getting their name spread across the newspapers for free.
Not to mention all the publicity generated online. (Damn it! I've fallen into their trap).
Of course, CNN are probably doing alright out of it on the publicity front too. Maybe they've set the whole thing up as a PR stunt...
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