After $787.5m Dominion settlement, what’s next for Fox?
A last-minute $787.5m (£634m) deal allowed Fox News to avoid a lengthy and potentially embarrassing defamation trial with US voting machine company Dominion.
In its $1.6bn lawsuit, Dominion alleged that Fox had damaged its business by spreading false claims that its machines had helped rig the 2020 election in Joe Biden’s favour.
While Fox swiftly declared the settlement a victory, the media empire was also forced to acknowledge that “certain claims” it made about Dominion were false, potentially putting it at odds with former President Donald Trump and vast swathes of its audience ahead of the upcoming 2024 election.
The network, controlled by 92-year-old billionaire mogul Rupert Murdoch, must also still contend with a second, similar lawsuit from another voting technology firm, Smartmatic, seeking an even larger sum of $2.7bn.
The appalling hypocrisy exposed by Fox News Hosts between what they privately knew regarding Trump’s lies and what they publicly said to their audience is a venality of journalism that degrades the entire industry.
Journalists knowingly peddling falsehoods that undermine the very fabric of Democratic norms and fuels an insurrection are not journalists.
They are criminal co-conspirators.
The appalling malicious toxicity their ‘journalism’ has caused within America and global democracy is war crime level damage.
They knew Trump’s claim of a stolen election was false, yet they peddled it and enflamed a riot.
Fox News is culpable for the damaged debate in America that has warped politics into an existential threat against each other.
Our global democracy is made worse by the existence of Fox News.
Increasingly having independent opinion in a mainstream media environment which mostly echo one another has become more important than ever, so if you value having an independent voice – please donate here.
If you can’t contribute but want to help, please always feel free to share our blogs on social media
It really is amazing that a country with the disinformation capabilities of the CIA and NSA and God knows what else, allows Fox to run its crazy making propaganda that undermines democracy. Almost as if those agencies are not interested in the integrity of American democracy at all.
The CIA and NSA look after unfettered capitalism before the idea of democracy.
Agree, dangerous lies to be spreading when a key “news” outlet destabilizes democracy like that.
They are of course not alone : CNN who went completely down the woke rabbit hole were caught out constructing a false narrative over Kyle Rittenhouse- the white dude who shot some people in self defense during the BLM riots. The riots and many people killed were downplayed and some say encouraged.
“Mostly peaceful” protest became a sick joke.
At least in Foxes case it’s going to hurt them badly financially.
In CNNs case their numbers went off a cliff. Be interesting to see if they do for Fox.
“Fox News is a Network of falsehood profiting from a carnival of malice that celebrates ignorance”
True. And so is New Zealand’s “Disinformation Project”.
Martyn – CNN, MSNBC just as bad – RussiaGate, Biden Laptop, Dr Fauci, and other lies…
Disagree. CNN may be guilty of silence on some issues as they pander to corporate interests but they don’t flat out lie like Fox were doing in this case. Their own people like Tucker Carlson (now not so) privately said they didn’t believe a word of what they were saying and did it anyway.
It is amazing that they can do easily afford these massive settlements.
I guess their settlement budget is around the $2B mark so they have $1.2 available to settle the other lawsuit.
More interesting will be how these lawsuits will affect their business model.
Wheel – CNN does flat lie, they knew the RussiaGate story was a lie…and still kept going.
No, wrong as usual wheel:
https://nypost.com/2021/11/22/kyle-rittenhouse-attorney-rips-cnn-msnbc/amp/
“ Kyle Rittenhouse’s defense lawyer ripped CNN and MSNBC for allegedly false reports and bungling “basic facts” amid his client’s high-profile trial.
Mark Richards told Fox News on Sunday that much of the initial media coverage regarding his 18-year-old client was “wrong,” saying “the trial proved that.”
And just to remind you, most of our news coverage in NZ came from those lying sources, repeating the lies without question.
Lying about facts during the BLM riots and fanning the flames was shockingly irresponsible at best.
Still doesn’t forgive Fox for undermining trust in democracy.
@Wheel
Agree that Fox flat out lied, and the hosts like Carlsen knew. They wanted to retain viewers.
However as other commenters said they are not alone. Among multiple false stories, MSNBC pushed Russiagate for 5 years. The biggest purveyor of this was Rachel Maddow (Steele Dossier, implying Russian election interference gave Trump the victory, Trump is a Russian asset, Russian bounties on US soldiers in Afghanistan, OAN is Russian Propaganda, Hunter Biden Laptop, the list goes on and on and on).
How is Russia viewed by a large swathe of the US public after years relentless Russiagate propaganda? How ready are they to support the most ridiculous Necon fever dream?
In one case when OAN sued Maddow, MSNBC and Comcast but lost because the Judge determined that Maddow’s audience understands that her show consists of exaggeration, hyperbole, and pure opinion, and therefore would not assume that what she says was factually true.
Fox lawyers used a similar tactic when Karen McDougal sued Carlsen for defamation. These court cases are proof, it is was needed that much of the media is infotainment and manufacturing consent.
Martyn – CNN, MSNBC just as bad – RussiaGate, Biden Laptop, Dr Fauci, and other lies…
ahhh nate the final defence line frrom the schoolyard….
butttt butttt miss miss he did it too
gagarin – I am wrong?
Well summarised in respect to Faux Spews, but…
“Our global democracy” ? ?
Peddling untruths.
What’s wrong with that?
Some of us thought this was what they are supposed to do.
I was looking at entering a uni programme to study the art of conflation and subterfuge.
This must be a bot
Operation Mockingbird
MSM New Zealand that’s what they do,in the pocket of the Labour Government.
Thank you, Tucker Carlson, aka Bob.
Proof Bob, show us the proof?
Why are you surprised shocked?
ALL major media companies do it. Lie & cheat
Including such bastions as the BBC and TVNZ.
oh and CNN,MSBC et al
as usual the US has the best justice money can buy….fox avoids scutiny
Im as left leaning as the next thinking person ( not that left/right seem to mean anything in the present paradigm) but I find some of Carlson’s reporting informative much to my own surprise , particularly around the Biden crime family and their sordid connections in Ukraine .
carlson will just move onto another rightwing platform grift whilst playing the martyr card