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On Monday, Fox News switched to the “New York Times” a full-page advertisement: «The most reliable news. Especially now.” The broadcaster should have been on trial on Tuesday for lying about the 2020 US presidential election.
Because the American company Dominion, which produces voting machines, has sued the broadcaster. The 443-page lawsuit cited 20 TV reports between November 2020 and January 2021 in which Fox News alleged that Dominion was at the center of a political conspiracy to “steal” 76-year-old Donald Trump for re-election. The company would have done this with algorithms that would have swapped votes for the candidates.
Fox News itself did not believe any lies
Trump made the accusation immediately after his defeat by Joe Biden (80). Fox News kept running it.
Behind the scenes at Fox News, Trump’s conspiracy theory was never believed. Both moderators and owner Rupert Murdoch, 92, internally describe the claims as “insane” and “damaging,” CNN writes.
The sender does not have to apologize
However, there was no trial. An agreement was reached out of court. The broadcaster must now pay Dominion $ 787.5 million in damages. The defamatory voting machine manufacturer had demanded $1.6 billion.
For Fox News, the deal may be the best of all the bad options the TV network has left. So CNN, Axios and the New York Times reported that the settlement did not include a clause requiring the broadcaster to apologize for making false claims about Dominion — and the U.S. election.
Such a statement would have forced America’s most powerful media company to tell its millions of viewers that it was lying about the theft of the 2020 election, a lie that led to the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2020.
787.5 million is a cold consolation
The settlement is unprecedented for a media defamation case in the United States. Yet Fox News, whose parent company had revenues of $14 billion last year, bought its freedom relatively painlessly.
It’s probably not over for Fox News, though. Other voting machine manufacturers are waiting for a trial – for similar reasons. They now also hope for a generous compensation.
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
