Fox News settles Dominion – The latest: Network avoids painful trial in 2020 election with $787m deal
The prospect of a Fox News-Dominion trial seemed imminent as of 9 a.m. Tuesday, after the two sides failed to reach a deal over the weekend.
An email was sent to longtime mediator Jerry Roscoe, who was vacationing in Europe, and ended up reading thousands of pages of documents with lawyers on both sides preparing commission calls, The Washington Post reported.
“The parties were not very optimistic that this would be resolved,” he said.
Mr. Roscoe made about 50 calls to both sides and he realized that the Dominion’s monetary demand was not the only issue that was getting in the way of the arbitration – there were also divisions over the language Fox would issue in the statement.
“Both sides had good lawyers and wanted to see if they could settle the matter,” he said. “But I wasn’t sure we’d solve it until it was really solved.”
said Mr Roscoe after the settlement was announced on Tuesday. “There was just a sense of relief and accomplishment.”
Even though Fox News’ final statement did not issue an apology, Dominion said that the sheer size of the settlement was substantial and meant that Dominion held Fox accountable.
Shweta Sharma20 April 2023 05:30
Stephen Colbert could barely hold back his laughter as he discussed the news that Fox News has settled a defamation lawsuit with Dominion for $787.5m.
“Damn you! I want my test! I want it!” He shouted. “I wanted to see Rupert Murdoch put his hand on the Bible and burst into flames.
“I think it is satisfactory to the Dominion that rupee-y had to be bitten on piles of cash, but it does nothing for our democracy.”
isobel lewis That’s the whole story.
bevan hurley20 April 2023 05:00
The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg writes:
For a good part of the network’s quarter-century on the air, Fox News went by the mantra of “we report, you decide.”
But after the network wholeheartedly embraced Donald Trump in 2016, reporting became optional because their audiences had already decided.
They decided to believe whatever Trump told them. And when they heard something that contradicted it, they looked for more comforting lies elsewhere.
Two years later, Fox viewers remain loyal to Trump, but the twice-impeached former president’s lies are still paying a price.
Some of that cost has yet to be taken out of Fox’s bottom line.
Another voting machine maker, Smartmatic, still has a multibillion-dollar lawsuit pending against Fox, many of the same lies that pushed Rupert Murdoch and his organization to offer Dominion more than three-quarters of a billion dollars to withdraw their case.
But it may be Mr Trump who ultimately pays the highest price.
bevan hurley20 April 2023 04:00
Fox News has had little to say about Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit for nearly the entirety of its existence, but it finally deemed it worth covering the story on Tuesday when it announced that the parties have been decided.
in Fox News Story — which comes to 256 words, about 70 of which are a block quote from a Fox spokesperson—we don’t learn Why The company was sued, just sued broadly for defamation. We also don’t learn how much it cost the network to finish the trial.
(It was $787.5m in case you missed it.)
Greg Graziosi There is a story.
bevan hurley20 April 2023 03:00
The Independent’s Sean O’Grady writes:
“Truth matters. Lies have consequences”. Dominion Voting Systems’ lawyer puts it better than any army of Rupert Murdoch’s mercenary journalists can; or, indeed is ever allowed to do so (sensational story Doesn’t come up much on their channels or in their headlines). And it’s about time someone, somewhere, decided “enough is enough with fake news”.
Without wishing to come across as hypocritical – we journalists are all flawed – the humiliation of Fox News at the hands of the now obscure election machinery company, Dominion, is a victory for the truth.
It’s not as simple as that – because there can be no defamation case of this magnitude – but the world is a little better now, a little safer, a little more secure from the abuse of media power than it was before Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News dominion. decided to go in.
bevan hurley20 April 2023 02:00
Former President Donald Trump’s social media output in the hours after Fox News reached a $787 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems has included several posts promoting a series of digital trading cards sold by him, Florida attacks on U.S. Governor Ron DeSantis, and bizarre complaints about Elon Musk and alleged censorship on Twitter (where Mr. Trump’s account has gone unused since being restored earlier this year).
But Mr. Trump has not weighed in on Fox’s decision to offer more than three-quarters of a billion dollars to Dominion, instead allowing a Delaware jury to determine that the company repeatedly lied about its products. How much should the right wing network be paid instead of speaking up. Report the truth because it was bothering his audience.
bevan hurley20 April 2023 01:30
CNN has a new behind the scenes account How the historic $787.5m settlement between Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems came about.
Litigator Jerry Roscoe told the network he made an urgent phone call aboard the European River Cruises, which was celebrating its 70th birthday on Sunday, asking if he would mediate a deal between the parties.
Mr Roscoe said lead lawyers were “really far away” on a settlement figure.
But after an intense 24-hour period of “shuttle diplomacy” involving phone calls and Zoom meetings, Mr Roscoe had negotiated the largest known defamation settlement against a media organization in US history.
According to a business profile, Mr. Roscoe has more than 30 years of experience resolving complex commercial, health care, employment and environmental disputes.
Dominion Voting System attorneys Davida Brooke, left, Justin Nelson, center, and Stephen Shackelford leave the Delaware Superior Court after Tuesday’s settlement.
(associated Press)
bevan hurley20 April 2023 01:00
While the Fox News case made most of the headlines, Dominion filed defamation lawsuits against right-wing networks, lawyers and media personalities in the months leading up to the 2020 election.
Everyone here is being prosecuted by the Dominion.
bevan hurley20 April 2023 00:30
Lawyers for Dominion Voting Systems look through evidence boxes in a seventh-floor courtroom Tuesday morning, shortly before plans to oust Fox News and its Fox Corporation leadership for a volley of false claims about the company after the 2020 election. The mountains were kept.
Later that morning, the jurors were sworn in. He ordered lunch. Hours later, it was over. And Fox News acknowledged that statements it made on the airwaves about Dominion were false, agreeing to pay more than $787 million to the voting machine company in a settlement that marked one of the largest defamation trials in US history. Postponed one.
Alex Woodward On the made-for-TV courtroom drama that will never air on TV.
bevan hurley20 April 2023 00:00
noah burlatsky writes for Independent:
I, along with many others, was looking forward to a full trial. We wanted Fox anchors like Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity to testify in open court under oath that they lied to their viewers about the election, insisting that the vote against Donald Trump was rigged, even though they knew it was not so.
Fox was desperate to avoid this, and with a $787.5 million settlement – the largest libel payout in US history – they did.
A lengthy trial outlining the treachery and negligence of the right-wing media would have been a healthy outcome for democracy, and might have undermined Fox’s reputation with some of its fans.
But it is important to acknowledge that the trial provides some accountability, and just as important, it makes future coup attempts or attacks on democracy more difficult. We know from the finding that Fox carefully weighed the incentives and financial consequences before advancing election lies. This payment replaces those incentives for the future. It’s a good thing.
bevan hurley19 April 2023 23:30
