Make Gawker pay, but not so much that it must shut down

To the editor: Attorney Ken White is right. (“Go ahead and hate Gawker, but don’t cheer its downfall,” Opinion, June 14)

No matter how distasteful the tawdry clickbait the online gossip and journalism outlet Gawker Media serves up, it should be free to out-titillate its competitors in pursuit of the almighty dollar. This I concede, even as I lament the relentless coarsening of society.

But the freedom to disseminate online drek isn’t without limits. However blurry the boundaries, lines must be drawn to discourage, for example, invading others’ privacy and abetting extortion. For its outrageous unauthorized exposition of intimate sexual activity — even that of an adulterous celebrity — Gawker should pay a steep though not ruinous price.

Given the monumental expenses Gawker incurred in the subject case and its inability to survive a judgment of $140 million, perhaps an appellate court can award a more equitable amount, one that enables it to remain in business. And perhaps Gawker could be more cognizant of the risks it runs in violating reasonable expectations of privacy.

Gene Martinez, Orcutt, Calif.

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