Why did Fox News settle their case yesterday for 787 MILLION dollars? That is the MORE THAN THREE TIMES the size of the previous LARGEST settlement in a defamation case in the U.S.
It’s notoriously difficult to win a defamation case against a media company, The New York Times vs Sullivan case established a higher standard when public figures are involved. In order to win such a defamation case, the plaintiff must establish not only that the media company KNEW what they said was false, but that they acted with “actual malice”, which means they took their actions KNOWING the harm it could cause. Simple mistakes don’t qualify. But in this case, he evidence that had already been made public would probably be enough to meet that threshold even if Dominion didn’t have anything else.
Dominion was asking for $1.6 billion in damages. Even if they won their case, it would most likely be years before they would see a single penny, and they would be lucky to receive half or what they were asking.
So why would Fox News settle before trial for half of what they were asking? After all, that amount was probably close to their worst-case scenario.
It could have been because they were scared of punitive damages, but that’s not likely. They have over $4 billion in case, and it would also be years before they would have to pay any punitive damages.
I believe that the REAL REASON FOX SETTLED was to prevent Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and their other liars from having to get on the stand and testify under oath that they regularly and knowingly LIE TO THEIR VIEWERS, spread conspiracy theories they know are false, and work together to spin a false narrative that is one of the major causes for division in our country today, all for their own PROFIT. Truth be damned.
Many of those people who watch Carlson, Hannity, and others, actually believe what they are being told, even though theirs lies can easily be exposed with just a little research. They believe because they WANT to believe, and simply ignore those they are trying to tell them the truth about Fox News. Even copies of text messages from Carlson and Hannity are not taken seriously.
But if Carlson, Hannity, or any of the others were to testify IN OPEN COURT, on national television, that they regularly LIE TO THEIR VEIWERS, that would probably be enough for them to lose their audience and, more importantly to Fox, the money they make off their audience.
For more details on the settlement, look any any legitimate news source, including https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/18/technology/fox-news-dominion-settlement.html.
But don’t look to Fox News if you want the whole story!
Of course, this is not the first time I have written about the lies being spread by Fox News. Here are some links to other posts on the subject:
https://seriouslyscott.com/cnn-truth-or-fiction-is-cnn-fake-news/
https://seriouslyscott.com/carlson-and-hannity-caught-lying-again/