Good column Dick. Here are a few reasons you might be wrong. First, Fox will insist on confidentiality and no admission of liability, both of which will be unacceptable to Dominion as they would defeat its goals in bringing the lawsuit. Second, Dominion doesn’t need the money but does need to remove the tarnish Fox has administered to Dominion’s reputation. Third, Dominion can easily prove that Fox “knew” it was publishing false information and this is the most difficult element of a public defamation claim. Fourth, and admittedly a peon to our fondness for underdogs and fairness, Dominion won’t pass up the chance to publicly bloody the nose of the loudmouth town bully.
As someone who spent 40 years with community newspapers, I would only be OK with a settlement if Fox has to repeatedly tell its audience in prime time that it lied and that it hosts lied about what it was reporting. Their viewers probably won’t believe them, but it would make me feel better.
The best case result I can envision in a no-settlement scenario is a precedential citation acknowledging the vitality of the neutral report defense (of course Fox was entitled to report the news that Trump and his minions were denying the integrity of the Dominion machines, the just as CNN and MSNBC and everyone else did so without getting sued by Dominion) but there are here, to be charitable, questions of fact as to whether Fox maintained the neutrality required to support the defense.
Dominion has stated from the beginning that they have no intention of settling. They may "proved their points" to the satisfaction of the minority of people who refuse to remain willfully ignorant, but that's not nearly enough.
Try sending a letter to the folks at Dominion with your opinion as to why they should accept a settlement offer fron Fox. I'm pretty sure they'd tell you to go pound sand, if they were to reply at all.
And it shouldn't be enough "we" or to anyone who cares about the truth, no matter how you choose to rationalize it.
The trial date is set for just one month from now, and anyone with a sense of justice is entitled to see the liars sweat it out on the witness stand when their noses are rubbed in their own feces.
Your concerns about the effects on journalism are unfounded. In fact a judgment in favor of Dominion should be welcomed by journalists who actually care about ethical journalism. No one who really cares about the profession would actually classify Murdock's propaganda machine as "journalism",
It makes sense that Fox would settle if they thought they would lose the case. The question is whether the Murdochs are clear-eyed about that, or whether they are surrounded by yes-people who are telling them they will win. I expect they understand their odds here, as successful business people, and that you are right they will settle. As to fallout with their audience from a trial, I doubt the facts on that would ever be mentioned inside the bubble much of their audience is in.
Mike Lindell, Mr. My Pillow, proved that the Dominion voting machines were hacked into by the Chinese to change votes. He provided IP addresses linked directly to China. Maybe Dominion didn't actually change the votes, but their sloppy programming and allowing internet access to their machines caused the election to be stolen. FOX News can win if they put him on the stand with his proof. Having hundreds of thousands of pre printed ballots from China didn't hurt Democrats either.
Good column Dick. Here are a few reasons you might be wrong. First, Fox will insist on confidentiality and no admission of liability, both of which will be unacceptable to Dominion as they would defeat its goals in bringing the lawsuit. Second, Dominion doesn’t need the money but does need to remove the tarnish Fox has administered to Dominion’s reputation. Third, Dominion can easily prove that Fox “knew” it was publishing false information and this is the most difficult element of a public defamation claim. Fourth, and admittedly a peon to our fondness for underdogs and fairness, Dominion won’t pass up the chance to publicly bloody the nose of the loudmouth town bully.
As someone who spent 40 years with community newspapers, I would only be OK with a settlement if Fox has to repeatedly tell its audience in prime time that it lied and that it hosts lied about what it was reporting. Their viewers probably won’t believe them, but it would make me feel better.
The best case result I can envision in a no-settlement scenario is a precedential citation acknowledging the vitality of the neutral report defense (of course Fox was entitled to report the news that Trump and his minions were denying the integrity of the Dominion machines, the just as CNN and MSNBC and everyone else did so without getting sued by Dominion) but there are here, to be charitable, questions of fact as to whether Fox maintained the neutrality required to support the defense.
Dominion has stated from the beginning that they have no intention of settling. They may "proved their points" to the satisfaction of the minority of people who refuse to remain willfully ignorant, but that's not nearly enough.
Try sending a letter to the folks at Dominion with your opinion as to why they should accept a settlement offer fron Fox. I'm pretty sure they'd tell you to go pound sand, if they were to reply at all.
And it shouldn't be enough "we" or to anyone who cares about the truth, no matter how you choose to rationalize it.
The trial date is set for just one month from now, and anyone with a sense of justice is entitled to see the liars sweat it out on the witness stand when their noses are rubbed in their own feces.
Your concerns about the effects on journalism are unfounded. In fact a judgment in favor of Dominion should be welcomed by journalists who actually care about ethical journalism. No one who really cares about the profession would actually classify Murdock's propaganda machine as "journalism",
It makes sense that Fox would settle if they thought they would lose the case. The question is whether the Murdochs are clear-eyed about that, or whether they are surrounded by yes-people who are telling them they will win. I expect they understand their odds here, as successful business people, and that you are right they will settle. As to fallout with their audience from a trial, I doubt the facts on that would ever be mentioned inside the bubble much of their audience is in.
Mike Lindell, Mr. My Pillow, proved that the Dominion voting machines were hacked into by the Chinese to change votes. He provided IP addresses linked directly to China. Maybe Dominion didn't actually change the votes, but their sloppy programming and allowing internet access to their machines caused the election to be stolen. FOX News can win if they put him on the stand with his proof. Having hundreds of thousands of pre printed ballots from China didn't hurt Democrats either.