The Murdochs, the Fox News Correspondence, and the First Amendment: The Case to the High-Energy Fox News Dilemma
Fox News has denied any wrongdoing, maintained it is proud of its 2020 election coverage, and argued that the lawsuit that Dominion is about represents a threat to the First Amendment. The network thinks the figure is a lot more than it is.
In the letter, which was dated Friday and filed with the court, Fox attorney Blake Rohrbacher said the right-wing network “never intended to omit information” and that its inaccurate representations about Murdoch’s formal role at Fox News were “not meant to mislead the Court or evade the question.”
The legal spat revolves around Murdoch’s roles at Fox News and its parent company, Fox Corporation. He has never had an official title at Fox News, even when asked directly by the judge. Last week, Fox revealed that he is an executive officer at Fox News.
“Both parties have made these witnesses very relevant,” Davis said, regarding the Murdochs. The Murdochs were supposed to be on the witness stand.
Conservative TV darlings Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and a slew of other Fox News stars and executives, including the network’s 92-year-old owner Rupert Murdoch, may soon have their days in court in what stands to be the biggest media trial since the 1980s.
Both appeared many times on Fox in the weeks following the election and peddled baseless conspiratorial claims that included that the company was founded to rig elections in favor of the late-Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez.
Regardless of whether the case goes to trial, the evidence has battered Fox News’ credibility, exposing the network as a dishonest organization who will push lies to its audience.
The Supreme Court ruling regarding New York Times v Sullivan made it difficult to win defamation cases in the United States. It has to meet a high standard. If an entity lied, it was probably done with malice, as it must have known it was lying. The first two cases, where Fox had aired lies and knew they were lies, the court ruled that Fox did so maliciously, so now it is about whether Fox did so recklessly.
The First Amendment does not shield broadcasters from knowingly or recklessly spreading lies, according to a statement shared with NPR.
That high standard is known as actual malice. It’s meant to protect media outlets from being punished for reporting critically on powerful figures, including corporations and the government.
Dominion has filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News in Delaware Superior Court. Fox Corporation has no such claim that its statements about its hosts and executives blasted on air
Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis stated in a ruling that there was no question that Fox’s statements about the company were false.
Thousands of text messages and email exchanges revealed in legal documents show that Fox personalities and executives knew the claims their hosts and guests blasted on air were false.
The two guests were Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer, and Sidney Powell, a Trump ally. There has been no rulings in the cases of Giuliani and Powell that Dominion has sued.
“The whole thing seems insane to me, and Sidney Powell won’t release the evidence. Which I hate,” Carlson texted fellow hosts Hannity and Laura Ingraham a couple weeks after the election.
Murdoch told the attorney that he could have ordered Scott to stop hosting Powell and Giuliani on Fox.
Gauging by what Fox has presented in court, the network’s attorneys maintain the election-technology company’s worth is nowhere near the $1.6 billion Dominion is asking for.
The trial in the defamation suit brought against Fox News is scheduled to begin this week. It could have implications for the right-wing cable channel.
Jones was referring to Abby Grossberg, a former producer for the news outlet who claimed Fox lawyers bullied her into protecting the network and its on-air personalities in her deposition for the Dominion case. She has escalated her own lawsuit against the company, adding CEO Suzanne Scott as defendant and accusing the company’s lawyers of deleting messages from her phone.
That could be a huge blow to Fox. According to the latest earnings statement, Fox Corporation has an estimated $4 billion in cash on hand. It is not clear how much insurance the company has, or what its insurance policy would cover.
Preliminary Report of the Tucker Carlson, Joe Biden, and Donald Trump Trial in the Case of Post-Election Denialism
The damning behind the-scenes communications were included in 10,000 pages of court documents that have been made public as part of the lawsuit and many of them are likely to be shown in the trial.
For example, host Tucker Carlson said in one text message he “passionately” hates Trump. In one November 2020 exchange, Tucker Carlson said Trump’s decision to snub Joe Biden’s inauguration was “so destructive,” adding that Trump’s post-election behavior was “disgusting” and that he was “trying to look away.”
The trial will begin Monday in Delaware at 9 am ET, with expected opening statements at some point during the day. A panel of 12 jurors and 12 alternates are expected to be selected by Monday morning. There will be opening statements after the jury is seated. The trial is expected to last a long time.
The court decided to continue the trial, including jury selection, until Tuesday, April 18 of next year, at 9:00 a.m. I will make an announcement tomorrow at 9:00 a.m.
A First Amendment professor at the University of Utah said that Dominion seems to have been motivated to play it out on a public stage and correct the record on election denialism.
The case of Fox News: a trial at the Singular Telecommunications Network (TFT) after the 2020 midterm election: results and prospects
Legal experts were surprised that Fox hadn’t settled the case as the case progressed through the court system. A settlement would avert what promises to be an excruciating and embarrassing several weeks for Fox.
Some of the company’s top executives and hosts will testify during the trial about the election lies promoted by the network after the 2020 election.