by Domenico Maceri * –
“Truth still matters…and lies have consequences.” Thus Justin Nelson, the chief lawyer of Dominion Voting Systems, immediately after the announcement of the agreement with Fox News according to which Rupert Murdoch’s network has accepted the compromise to pay 787 million dollars. The huge sum compensates Dominion for the damages suffered by the spread of false news. Fox had broadcast repeated reports that in the 2020 election, Dominion gave votes to Joe Biden that belonged to Donald Trump.
The stratospheric amount received by Dominion should demonstrate the importance of the truth reported by the media and in a sense will help to trace that lies have consequences. Nonetheless, it is an agreement that favors Fox News much more than the truth, which is essential for democracy.
Fox executives decided that despite the historic expense, it was best to avoid trial and embarrassing sworn testimony in which their hypocrisy would be exposed: the admission to spreading news they knew to be false for the simple reason of sharing and of course the money from this sale. The 92-year-old Murdoch will not have to testify and neither will the stars of Fox News, such as Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Maria Bartiromo, who were the greatest promoters of the “big lie”, the big lie of the stolen election. Financially, Fox can afford it because the company has more than $1 billion in net income ($1.23 for the current year). He also has $4 billion in the bank and the Murdoch family’s fortune is around $17 billion. Furthermore, according to the agreement, Fox does not have to make a public apology for its unprofessional journalistic conduct.
Dominion makes money too. In the first place because the final victory in the trial was not assured, considering the fact that in this type of lawsuit the law requires demonstrating bad faith in Fox’s actions. From a financial point of view it comes out very well because the sum is stratospheric. The second closest to this figure was $177 million settled by ABC News in 2017. Dominion is a small company with about 20 employees and a value of $700 million, a figure that is doubled with the settlement money. by Fox. In addition, the company has taken other defamation proceedings against other conservative networks and Mike Lindell, owner of the pillow company My Pillow, Rudy Giuliani and Sydney Powell, who have often been on Fox News to promote Donald’s “big letter” Trump. The compensation Fox News wins could be followed by more victories, even if these individuals’ pockets aren’t necessarily full of cash.
While Fox and Dominion both “won” the deal, the long-trial promotion of truth has been blunted. The publicity of the trial would have put the spotlight on not only Fox’s lies, but Trump’s as well. Telling fake news on TV is one thing. But sworn testimony is dangerous. That’s why even Trump, when he shows up to testify under oath, invokes the Fifth Amendment not to incriminate himself, as he has done hundreds of times in the New York State civil case. In the Manhattan criminal case Trump answered questions with simple yes and no, and even thanked the judge. Furthermore, the lawsuit would have traced that Fox News does not consist of reliable news networks in the way more traditional networks are.
Fox’s publishing line has made huge profits, but those won’t be trusted either. Smartmatic, another company of electronic vote-counting machines, also filed a libel suit similar to Dominion’s. In this case, however, the amount requested is higher, 2.7 billion dollars. Will there be a bargain in this case too or will it come to trial with all the consequences avoided in the case of Dominion? Or will Fox decide that it will be necessary to change the editorial line and move towards a type of media based on journalistic principles that have not been applied until now?
There has already been a change. April 21 was the last working day for Tucker Carlson, Fox’s brightest star in terms of share. There have been no explanations from either party and it is not known whether the separation is due to the denunciation of Dominion and that of Smartmatic. Of course, the timing is not a simple coincidence, but more details will be forthcoming in the coming days. One thing is certain: Carlson was not given the opportunity to say hello to his viewers. The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times both reported that Carlson’s firing was actually wanted by Murdoch. The boss of Fox would have been infuriated by statements in the Dominion investigation that Carlson had shown insubordination towards network executives. Furthermore, Carlson was held responsible by the complaint of a former employee, who accused him of discrimination.
* Domenico Maceri, PhD, is professor emeritus at Allan Hancock College, Santa Maria, California. Some of his articles have won awards from the National Association of Hispanic Publications.