CNN, Hearst Television and Sinclair Broadcast Group were hit with a defamation lawsuit Monday in Maryland District Court in connection with an Oct. 2022 WBAL-TV 11 Baltimore news story, 'Student's TikTok Video Questions Safety at University of Baltimore.' The case was brought by attorney Andrea D. Smith Esq. on behalf of a plaintiff who contends that the broadcast featured a woman who falsely accused of him of threatening to commit a mass shooting. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendants. The case is 1:23-cv-01585, Francis v. Hearst Television Inc. et al.