The settlement Tuesday afternoon of Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against Fox News and Fox Corp. put a quick stop to one of the most consequential First Amendment cases in decades. Fox News will have to pay $787.5 million — an economic bonanza for Dominion. But importantly, the media company will not have to publicly apologize. And that means Rupert Murdoch’s team may feel like it dodged a bullet.
Social media was flooded with outrage Tuesday because of the way the company is already spinning the settlement as a reflection of its “continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards.”
It’s not a full victory for Fox — but things certainly could have ended a lot worse.
Those critics should remember Fox News is not out of the woods — at least not yet. But let’s first evaluate Tuesday’s settlement. It is not a full victory for Fox — but things certainly could have ended a lot worse. The projected weekslong trial would most likely have generated a daily flow of unflattering reports about Fox News. That’s a lot of grist for both the social media and cable TV mills.
Indeed, in retrospect, the timing of this settlement makes a lot of sense. By settling now, Rupert Murdoch, Tucker Carlson and other Fox News employees will not have to testify under oath. On the witness stand they would have been confronted with their private texts and sworn deposition testimony.
Judge Eric Davis had also sanctioned Fox News for withholding evidence and questioned the credibility of its lawyers’ representations to the court. He followed that up by appointing an independent special master on Tuesday to investigate whether Fox News engaged in discovery abuses and by ordering Fox News to pay the costs of that inquiry. Fox News could not have been happy with that development.
The complete terms of Fox News’ settlement with Dominion are not public yet. But it seems to leave unresolved critical issues that could have been decided in the jury…
Read the full article here