Fox News $787.5 Million Defamation Settlement Avoids Trial, Polarizes Media
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Following the $787.5 million settlement announcement in Dominion Voting Systems’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News, writers across the spectrum are reflecting on what was gained and what was lost by averting a high-profile trial regarding misinformation, news media, and the first amendment.
From The Left: Left-rated voices broadly expressed disappointment that the trial didn’t move forward, with many eager for court testimony from prominent right-rated media figures like Tucker Carlson (Right Bias) and former Fox News CEO and current chairman Rupert Murdoch. Michelle Goldberg (Left Bias) wrote that Fox had to settle because the network “had no viable defense,” determining that “Fox has just shown the world what it’s willing to pay to avoid the unmasking.” A Daily Beast writer determined the settlement proved that “bad-faith right-wing actors with money can still trump accountability.”
From The Right: Right-rated voices gave less attention to the settlement announcement, but those reflecting on the news generally voiced relief that a settlement was reached and a precedent-setting verdict was avoided. A writer in Reason (Lean Right Bias) argued that “letting the government directly punish Fox News hosts for their statements—even if those statements end up being defamatory—would start us down way too slippery a slope.” A writer in the Washington Examiner determined a verdict in either direction would have proved detrimental to news media. A verdict in Fox’s favor, they wrote, would give the “green light for pernicious behavior,” and a verdict in Dominion’s favor would result in “narrowing First Amendment protections in ways antithetical to freedom.”
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
Dominion’s Big Fox News Settlement Is America’s LossDominion Voting, America’s unexpected fighter for its fledgling democracy, settled its $1.6 billion lawsuit with Fox and decided to step out of the ring with a bag of money instead of vanquishing one of the country’s most destructive and influential peddlers of hate and disinformation.
On Tuesday, Dominion accepted a $787.5 million payment from Fox effectively ending their two-year defamation case against the disinformation network that knowingly promoted conspiracy theories and lies about the voting company’s role in the 2020 election. “We acknowledge the court’s rulings finding certain claims about...
From the Center
Fox to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787.5 million to settle election defamation lawsuitFox Corp. and its cable networks agreed Tuesday to pay $787.5 million to Dominion Voting Systems to settle a defamation lawsuit over false claims that Dominion’s machines swayed the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
The settlement, which came after a 12-member jury had been seated in the case in Delaware Superior Court, averted a weekslong trial that could have seen top Fox TV hosts and network boss Rupert Murdoch publicly testify.
The deal, which will cost Fox nearly half of the $1.6 billion that Dominion originally demanded, was struck...
From the Right
Fox News settlement is the best result for everybodyWhen the Dominion voting machine company settled its defamation suit this afternoon against Fox News, the whole country benefited by avoiding a bad precedent on First Amendment press freedoms.
A bad precedent could have been set if the case had reached a verdict for either side. Without a settlement, there was almost no possible outcome that would have avoided great mischief down the line.
Let’s not mince words: Fox was wrong in how it presented the topic of then-President Donald Trump’s lies that the 2020 election was stolen from him....
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