Cost of Fox News lies goes beyond Dominion settlement | Editorial
The network has long played fast and loose with the facts. Its impact on America since its founding in 1996 has sown resentment, stoked division, and led to a less informed electorate.
For Fox News, the first bill came due for airing repeated lies about the 2020 presidential election being stolen. But whether the cable news network learned its lesson remains to be seen.
Fox paid nearly $800 million to settle a defamation lawsuit that alleged its cable news hosts and guests spread false claims that the technology used by Dominion Voting Systems helped rig the election for Joe Biden.
Donald Trump and his allies launched those lies, which helped to stoke the anger that led to a deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Fox was a willing partner in promoting not only the election lies but Trump’s entire chaotic and crooked candidacy and presidency.
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Dominion’s lawsuit exposed how Fox executives and TV personalities knew the stolen election claims were false but continued to broadcast them anyway.
Fox, which has long promoted Republican propaganda, argued it was covering newsworthy claims about election fraud that were protected by the First Amendment. But the judge ruled the evidence was “CRYSTAL clear” that none of the statements relating to Dominion and the 2020 election were true.
News organizations have a responsibility to report information accurately and fairly. Most strive to be right, but the litigation showed Fox operated as if the rules do not apply to it.
During the run-up to the Dominion trial, the judge sanctioned Fox for not turning over evidence in a timely manner and planned to appoint a special master to investigate whether the company deliberately withheld information regarding Fox founder Rupert Murdoch’s role.
That is all in keeping with the Murdoch media empire built on sleaze.
Ongoing fallout from a 2011 phone-hacking scandal involving Murdoch’s British tabloids has surpassed $1 billion. Fox paid $50 million to settle a sexual harassment scandal involving the network’s founding chairman Roger Ailes and former host Bill O’Reilly in 2017.
Last year, Fox paid $15 million to a former female host and other women who said they were paid less than male colleagues, and an undisclosed amount to settle with the family of a Democratic political staffer after the network promoted a false conspiracy theory about his death.
Fox has long played fast and loose with the facts. Even worse, the network’s impact on America since its founding in 1996 has spurred resentment, sown division, and led to a misinformed electorate.
Fox aided and abetted Trump’s takeover of the Republican Party, which has morphed into an angry cult hellbent on undermining government institutions, driving the racial divide, and supporting foreign dictators.
One study found that watching Fox News leaves viewers less informed about current events compared with people who didn’t watch any news. Another study found Fox News uses the word hate five times more often than its competitors.
Fox is the most-watched cable news network, and Tucker Carlson is one of its most successful personalities. He uses his show to prey on viewers’ fear and grievances while spreading disinformation.
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Carlson has voiced support for authoritarian strongmen like Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, while also riling up viewers with nonsense about the dangers of immigrants and the great replacement theory. An analysis of more than 1,100 episodes of Carlson’s show found it is one of the most racist in the history of cable news.
The Dominion settlement may have saved Murdoch, Carlson, and other Fox hosts from having to testify. But the company is not out of legal and financial peril.
Fox News faces another defamation lawsuit related to its spread of election lies. Smartmatic, another voting technology company, is seeking $2.7 billion. Meanwhile, Dominion is also suing other right-wing media companies that went even further than Fox in spreading election lies.
Following the settlement with Fox News, Dominion attorney Justin Nelson said, “The truth matters” and “lies have consequences.”
Perhaps. But Fox News barely mentioned the lawsuit and did not apologize for its actions. Sadly, until Fox viewers and advertisers wake up, the nearly $800 million payout may be just another cost of doing reckless business.