In that system Gawker would still be fucked. However a rich person who controls a media company can still discourage lawsuits against him by spending a lot of m

In that system Gawker would still be fucked. However a rich person who controls a media company can still discourage lawsuits against him by spending a lot of money on lawyers to defend him. Suppose that rich media-owner slandered you. Even if the lawsuit would not be frivolous, the small possibility that you would lose and have to pay for the rich guy's very expensive lawyers would dissuade you from suing him in the first place.