Dominion lawsuit vs. Fox ‘News’ has anticlimactic ending
“Lies have consequences,” said Dominion lawyer Justin Nelson, speaking before a throng of media just outside the Delaware Superior Court. Fox “News” had just agreed to pay nearly $800 million to settle a lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems, which accused Fox of smearing its reputation following the 2020 election.
In case you somehow missed this high-profile case, Dominion filed a $1.6 billion suit against the conservative news network claiming
Fox “News” defamed it by knowingly spreading falsehoods from the likes of Donald Trump, his aides and allies, who said the voting technology provider’s services were used to fraudulently elect Joe Biden in 2020.
According to the lawsuit filed by Dominion, “Fox engaged in this knowing and reckless propagation of these enormous falsehoods in order to profit off these lies. Fox wanted to continue to protect its broadcast ratings, catering to an audience deeply loyal to President Trump.”
Fox answered by essentially saying hey, we’re just doing our job and it falls under legitimate newsgathering. In a court filing, Fox’s lawyers wrote, “It is plain as day that any reasonable viewer would understand that Fox News was covering and commentating on allegations about Dominion, not reporting that the allegations were true.” It then tried to get the suit thrown out. But the judge wasn’t buying it.
“The evidence developed in this civil proceeding demonstrates that is CRYSTAL clear that none of the statements relating to Dominion about the 2020 election are true,” Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric M. Davis wrote, and using capital letters as well as bold and italic fonts to show he really, really meant it.
Further, Fox claimed the lawsuit against them was “a blatant violation of the First Amendment.” Veteran local photojournalist and journalism instructor John Harte sees things a little differently.
“I don’t buy that from them, because I believe they knew what they were reporting was false,” said Harte, whose been teaching journalism at Bakersfield College for 26 years as well as teaching digital journalism at Cal State Bakersfield along with being a professional news photographer for The Californian for 28 years. Harte’s fellow journalism instructor at CSUB,, Jennifer Burger, is in agreement. “Free speech only goes so far. It doesn’t include libel,” said
Burger. “You have to do your due diligence and make sure you are reporting accurate information.”
It sounds so simple. It is basically Journalism 101. But Fox was desperate to keep its viewers, having angered them and prompting them to tune in elsewhere after Fox was the first network to report that Arizona, a key state in the 2020 election, had gone to Biden. That gave birth or at least contributed to the lie that the election was rigged and Dominion Voting Systems played a role in handing Biden the election.
Trump followers ate it up. Just recently, some tried to get the Kern County Board of Supervisors to dump Dominion and do all election counting by hand. Yes, by hand. Smartly, the board said no. Another claim made by Fox was that the Dominion lawsuit would have a “chilling effect” on news organizations to do their jobs.
“I think it’s the opposite! I think it holds the media accountable for being accurate in telling the truth and not spreading lies, even if it comes from other sources,” said Burger.
Truth be told, though, I was disappointed there was a settlement at the 11th hour. A good old-fashioned trial would have surely revealed even more damaging information about Fox “News,” which was eager to avoid more egregious embarrassing details coming out in public about how its own news staff and commentators themselves did not believe the lies being spread by Trump supporters, yet went along with it so Fox could keep making a profit.
Once upon a time it was instilled in all journalists that we are to stick together whenever any bona fide news agency is sued for allegedly being untruthful. A lawsuit against one endangers all was the logic. But in this particular case?
“I think their lies were so blatant and so debunked by virtually every credible source that to me, doesn’t even fall into that category of a news outlet that needs protection,” Harte said.
So what lesson can media learn from this? “I hope that it’s a good learning lesson to anybody that works in the media and that it trickles down to our local newsrooms,” Burger said.