Fox News and Dominion Settle out of Court for $787.5 million,

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   peoplepower73posted 23 months ago

   This is not only an admission of guilt for Fox News, but also includes Fox News broadcasters, Trump, Guiliani, Sydney Powell, et al.. This can also be used as evidence in Trump's claim that the election was rigged by Dominion. This raises the question, can certain forms of lying be charged as criminal intent?
   
   WILMINGTON, DELAWARE —
   
   Fox Corp. and Fox News on Tuesday settled a defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million, averting a high-profile trial that would have put one of the world's top media companies in the crosshairs over its coverage of false vote-rigging claims in the 2020 U.S. election.
   
   The settlement was announced by Fox, Dominion and the judge in the case at the 11th hour, with a 12-person jury selected on Tuesday morning and the case poised to kick off with opening statements on Tuesday afternoon. Dominion had sought $1.6 billion in damages in the lawsuit filed in 2021, with Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis presiding over the case in Wilmington.
   
   Dominion disclosed the settlement figure, and its CEO John Poulos said Fox had admitted to telling lies about his company. Dominion attorney Justin Nelson said the settlement "represents vindication and accountability" and that "lies have consequences." Dominion lawyers declined to answer questions about whether Fox News would apologize publicly or make reforms.
   
   "We acknowledge the court's rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false. This settlement reflects Fox's continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards. We are hopeful that our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, instead of the acrimony of a divisive trial, allows the country to move forward from these issues," Fox said in a statement.
   
   At issue in the lawsuit was whether Fox was liable for airing the false claims that Denver-based Dominion's ballot-counting machines were used to manipulate the 2020 U.S. election in favor of Democrat Joe Biden over Republican then-President Donald Trump. Dominion had argued that these on-air claims caused the company "enormous and irreparable economic harm."
   
   Davis had ordered a one-day trial postponement on Monday before another delay on Tuesday, as the two sides reached a deal in private.
   
   The deal spared Fox the peril of having some of its best-known figures called to the witness stand and subjected to potentially withering questioning, including executives such as Rupert Murdoch, the 92-year-old media mogul who serves as Fox Corp chairman, and Fox CEO Suzanne Scott as well as on-air hosts including Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro.
   
   The decision to settle also followed a ruling by the judge last month that Fox could not invoke free speech protections under the U.S. Constitution in its defense.
   
   Fox News is the most-watched U.S. cable news network, according to Nielsen.
   
   The primary question for jurors was to be whether Fox knowingly spread false information or recklessly disregarded the truth, the standard of "actual malice" that Dominion must show to prevail in a defamation case.
   
   In February court filings, Dominion cited a trove of internal communications in which Murdoch and other Fox figures privately acknowledged that the vote-rigging claims made about Dominion on-air were false.
   
   Dominion said Fox amplified the untrue claims to boost its ratings and prevent its viewers from migrating to other media competitors on the right including One America News Network, which Dominion is suing separately.
   
   Adding to the legal risks for Fox, another U.S. voting technology company, Smartmatic, is pursuing its own defamation lawsuit seeking $2.7 billion in damages in a New York state court. Fox Corp reported nearly $14 billion in annual revenue last year.
   
   Fox had argued that claims by Trump and his lawyers about the election were inherently newsworthy and protected by the Constitution's First Amendment.
   
   Davis ruled in March that Fox could not use those arguments, finding its coverage was false, defamatory and not protected by the First Amendment.
   
   Dominion in 2021 sued Fox Corp and Fox News, contending that its business was ruined by the false vote-rigging claims that were aired by the influential American cable news outlet known for its roster of conservative commentators.
   
   The trial was to have been a test of whether Fox's coverage crossed the line between ethical journalism and the pursuit of ratings, as Dominion alleged, and Fox denied. Fox had portrayed itself in the pretrial skirmishing as a defender of press freedom.
   
   The complaints referenced instances in which Trump allies including his former lawyers Rudolph Giuliani and Sidney Powell appeared on Fox News to advance the false allegations about Dominion.
   
   Dominion obtained internal communications and testimony from Murdoch and other Fox News executives and commentators. Murdoch internally described the election-rigging claims as "really crazy" and "damaging" but declined to wield his editorial power to stop them and conceded under oath that some Fox hosts nonetheless "endorsed" the baseless claims, Dominion told the court in a filing.
   
   When Murdoch watched Giuliani and Powell make their claims about Dominion on November 19, he characterized them to Fox News Chief Executive Suzanne Scott as "terrible stuff damaging everybody, I fear,” according to the filing.
   
   Under questioning from a Dominion lawyer, Murdoch testified that he thought everything about the election was on the "up-and-up" and doubted the rigging claims from the very beginning, according to Dominion's filing.
   
   Asked if he could have intervened to stop Giuliani from continuing to spread falsehoods on air, Murdoch responded, "I could have. But I didn't," the filing said.

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      Kathleen Cochranposted 23 months agoin reply to this

      "Fox News is the most-watched U.S. cable news network, according to Nielsen."
      
      And how many of those folks knew they were being lied to - but didn't care because it was what they wanted to hear? What is their responsibility?

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         Kathleen Cochranposted 23 months agoin reply to this

         “Do the best you can until you know better.
         Then, when you know better, do better.”
         - Maya Angelou

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         peoplepower73posted 23 months agoin reply to this

         Is lying with the intention of doing damage a crime?  These Fox News hosts and Trump allies prostituted themselves for the money. With the terms of this settlement, they don't even have to apologize to their viewers. 
         
         As a matter of fact, their viewers are probably not even aware there was almost a trial and instead they  settled. No one even gets punished, other than Rupert Murdoch shelling out $787.5 million to Dominion.  That is just chump change for him.
         
         This is the problem in this country, there are two realities when it comes to the news. If you are a Fox News junkie, they are telling you what you want to hear to keep their viewership up so the money flows to the top and is shared with the hosts who lie.
         
         If you watch the MSM, you do not get the same news as Fox and MAGA news, it is another reality. In my view, it is closer to the truth than Fox as evidenced by the admission of the hosts who lied.
         
         Now the question is will Trump continue to propagate the lie, even though his megaphone at Fox has admitted to lying?  It will be interesting to see what Jack Smith comes up with his investigation of the recorded telephone call with the Georgia Secretary of State. My money says, Trump will continue to propagate the lie. In his sick mind, he has convinced himself it is not a lie..

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      Sharlee01posted 23 months agoin reply to this

      Missed your thread...  Always enjoy our go-arounds... LOL   However -------------
      
      I think justice was done. The settlement was a good one, and Fox admitted wrongdoing. Which will be noted by the viewer.
      
      In my view, and I have shared this before. I think Fox was more concerned about ratings and making cash than reporting the truth. They chose to report what some high-profile people were saying, without vetting the information. 
      
      This in my view, is unethical.   Pushing an unverified narrative is unfair to viewers, and can work to spread unrest without due cause.

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         Kathleen Cochranposted 23 months agoin reply to this

         With all the cries of "Fake News" being thrown at outlets that do a better job of admitting mistakes and running retractions quickly, I hope this decision will educate people about what fake news actually is.

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         peoplepower73posted 23 months agoin reply to this

         How are Fox viewers going to note it,  if Fox isn't going to report they lied? The settlement doesn't require them to report it to their viewers.  If they did, they would lose their bottom line and they don't want that.  They have prostituted themselves and they know it. I went on Fox last night after the announcement was made, and Hannity had some guy on that was putting down democrats for some conspiracy. For those lying hosts, it is business as usual.

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            Sharlee01posted 23 months agoin reply to this

            Not sure how the viewers will take note of the dishonesty. I would think the rateings will answer that for us. March 2023
            https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/here-ar … tal%20day.
            
            I have not heard them make any other statements except the one they put out the other day.
            
            "In a statement following the settlement decision, Fox News acknowledged that the court found that it aired falsehoods which could have implications for other defamation cases it faces. "We acknowledge the Court's rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false."
            
            I do and have used Fox as a source, but I always looked to verify reports. I do this with all networks, and Internet sites.   I agree, Fox did this to make money, and ratings.
            
            This all makes me very disgusted, and angry.

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               Kathleen Cochranposted 23 months agoin reply to this

               If FOX ratings don't fall off drastically, that is an indictment of their viewers. But not a one of them will ever have the right to call any other network "Fake News" ever again. And they will have revealed themselves to be complicit in propagating propaganda right along with the worst violators.

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                  Sharlee01posted 23 months agoin reply to this

                  I agree, the ratings of a media outlet do indicate what is on their supporter's minds. But with Fox, many check in to see what they are saying, reporting. So, some of the ratings may come from those folks.
                  
                  Yes, it certainly should cut down on the chants of "fake news".
                  
                  I am very disappointed with Fox...

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                     peoplepower73posted 23 months agoin reply to this

                     I don't think it will.  Trump will continue his mantra of Fake News.  It's important to note, if Trump and his cohorts, didn't claim the Dominion voting machines were rigged, Fox Hosts would not have lied.  In a sense, they were exploiting Trump's lies to increase their viewership.  Follow the money.

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   Kathleen Cochranposted 23 months ago

   Wow. Silence from this group. It might help to put the FOX settlement into some context.
   
   https://www.thoughtco.com/the-top-journ … ej3vIrK640
   
   https://jacobin.com/2021/11/brian-willi … HhBy1GMnjM
   
   Someone on another site posted the most important thing - in my opinion - about this network's actions:  "The biggest consequence of their actions is the division that has occurred between friends, family, and spouses. No amount of money can justify that outcome."
   
   I know. This division has occurred in my family. And it didn't have to.

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      peoplepower73posted 23 months agoin reply to this

      It is also in my family as well.  These newscasters are prostituting themselves for the money by telling their viewers what they want to hear, instead of the truth and facts.
      
      The days of Walter Cronkite and the Huntley Brinkley Report are gone forever. They were one hour news programs that gave you pure unadulterated news. We can thank Ted Turner and Rupert Murdoch for were we are today. Maybe the forum is trying to ignore this post because they know there is no argument.

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   Kathleen Cochranposted 23 months ago

   The government made one mistake when they told the networks they could use the airways in return for committing one hour a day for the news. They should have refused to let them sell advertising during that hour.
   
   Of course we now have 24-hour news and all the government has done to restrict their activity has been to remove the Fairness Doctrine that required the networks to provide equal time to both sides of an argument and require they tell both sides. That has been gone now for about 40 years - and opened the doors for talk radio, commentary, and "flavors" of news.
   
   Sometimes we are our own worst enemy.

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   IslandBitesposted 23 months ago

   The cherry on top. Chef kiss.
   
   My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell ordered to pay $5M over debunked 2020 election data
   
   Lindell, who promised to pay the $5 million award to anyone who could debunk his data that purportedly proved election fraud, was ordered to pay the sum by a private arbitrator, who ruled that Robert Zeidman, a software expert, successfully disproved Lindell’s claims.
   
   The ruling from the arbitrator said that Lindell repeatedly claimed to have data that he said was captured during the 2020 election and proved that China interfered in the contest. He repeatedly made the claim in public appearances and TV guest-spots.
   
   Lindell then launched the “Prove Mike Wrong Challenge,” offering $5 million to anyone who could prove that the data was not valid. Zeidman entered the contest, submitting a report that concluded the data did not include information from the 2020 election. When Lindell’s team said Zeidman did not win the contest, he filed the arbitration.
   
   “Based on the foregoing analysis, Mr. Zeidman performed under the contract,” the ruling said. “He proved the data Lindell LLC provided, and represented reflected information from the November 2020 election, unequivocally did not reflect November 2020 election data. Failure to pay Mr. Zeidman the $5 million prized was a breach of the contract, entitling him to recover.”
   
   The arbitrator ruled that the money must be paid within 30 days of the decision.
   
   https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing … tion-data/

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      peoplepower73posted 23 months agoin reply to this

      LOL It couldn't of happened to a nicer guy. It's amazing how these people can get so caught up in Trump's cons that they even put up money thinking he is telling the truth.  Trump has lied for so long, I think he even believes his own lies.

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