Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News is set to go to trial in April. But details from depositions in the case have become public over the past few weeks and much of it looks bad for Fox News.
Messages, texts and testimony appear to show that Fox News executives and on-air personalities knew that claims of a rigged 2020 presidential election were not true, but that message kept getting promoted on Fox News’ airways.
All along, Fox has said it was merely covering the allegations made by former President Donald Trump and his advisers. The network says it was just covering the news.
But Dominion claims that Fox News was afraid of offending (i.e. losing) viewers and damaging their bottom line, and they continued to knowingly spread false information on the air. In other words, Dominion claims Fox put profits ahead of not only journalistic integrity, but journalistic responsibility.
The big question is does Dominion have a case? Can they actually win?
The Los Angeles Times’ Stephen Battaglio asked legal experts to weigh in. Battaglio writes that, based on conversations with First Amendment experts, Dominion has presented “highly compelling evidence of malice by Fox News.”
Attorney Lee Levine told Battaglio that Dominion has “one of the strongest plaintiff’s cases that I’ve ever seen.” He said, “I have a hard time envisioning a scenario in which Fox wins before a jury.”
Andrew Geronimo, director of the First Amendment Clinic at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, told Battaglio, “From a defense lawyer’s perspective, it gives me the cold sweats reading this.”
But let’s put aside the money for a moment (although $1.6 billion is a significant amount). If Dominion were to prevail, would this damage Fox News’ reputation?
My theory is that those who regularly watch Fox News aren’t going to be impacted by this one way or the other. Fox viewers might not even be aware of what’s going on because Fox News has refused to cover the story. I wrote earlier this week how Howard Kurtz, host of the Fox News show about the media “MediaBuzz,” told viewers that he was not allowed to mention the story on the air as of now.
For many, if they aren’t getting their news from Fox News, they aren’t getting any news.
As far as getting news from legitimate sources? Battaglio smartly writes, “Fox News has devoted so much time over the years to discrediting other news organizations that loyal Trump-loving viewers could dismiss any reports they hear as fake news.”
Late night laughs
Meantime, late-night talk show hosts are having a field day with the Fox-Dominion story. (The New York Times’ Trish Bendix has a good recap here.)
The best one came from CBS’s Stephen Colbert: “The Dominion lawsuit is a massive story, which is why Fox News isn’t covering it. In fact, if you go to their website and search the past two months for the words ‘Dominion Voting Systems,’ you don’t get an article — not a single article. You just get a page that says ‘Error 404: Journalism Not Found.’”
ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel said, “There was no mention of any of this on Fox News today. And here’s the thing: the reason they’re keeping this quiet — I know this is going to be a shock — is because Fox News lied to us.”
Trump lashes out … again
Apparently, former President Donald Trump is still riled up over all the revelations coming out of the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit against Fox News. For the second day this week, Trump took to social media on Wednesday to rip into Rupert Murdoch, chair of Fox News’ parent company. Murdoch said in a deposition last month that several Fox News hosts endorsed the false idea that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent and that the network should have done more to shut down the lies spread by Trump and some of his advisers.
On his Truth Social network, Trump wrote, “If Rupert Murdoch honestly believes that the Presidential Election of 2020, despite MASSIVE amounts of proof to the contrary, was not Rigged & Stollen, then he & his group of MAGA Hating Globalist RINOS should get out of the News Business as soon as possible, because they are aiding & abetting the DESTRUCTION OF AMERICA with FAKE NEWS. Certain BRAVE & PATRIOTIC FoxNews Hosts, who he scorns and ridicules, got it right. He got it wrong. THEY SHOULD BE ADMIRED & PRAISED, NOT REBUKED & FORSAKEN!!!”
Hoda Kotb update
In Wednesday’s newsletter, I mentioned that “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie left Tuesday’s show after only a half hour because she tested positive for COVID-19. It also became a story that co-host Hoda Kotb had not been on the show in more than a week with no explanation from NBC.
Enough media outlets mentioned it this week that the show addressed the matter on Wednesday’s “Today.” Co-host Craig Melvin said, “As for Hoda, we know some of you are wondering how she’s doing. We can tell you, Hoda’s OK. She’s got a family health matter she’s been dealing with.”
ESPN moves
ESPN’s Burke Magnus, left, standing with SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey in 2021. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
Some serious reshuffling at ESPN on Wednesday.
Burke Magnus has been named president of content. He will oversee ESPN’s studio shows, newsgathering and journalism, live events, talent, audio, social media, digital and films.
In addition, Disney Parks executive Rosalyn Durant is moving back to ESPN, where she previously had been a vice president. Durant will now oversee rights as executive vice president of programming and acquisitions. She assumes the role that Magnus had essentially been doing.
The moves were announced by Jimmy Pitaro, who was recently named ESPN chairman following Bob Iger’s return as head of Disney.
Deadline’s Dade Hayes wrote, “The update gives Pitaro a more streamlined structure as the company continues to dismantle the Media and Entertainment Distribution infrastructure put in place by former CEO Bob Chapek. While speculation has swirled about the potential for a spinoff or divestiture of ESPN, Iger last month affirmed it is not for sale and will remain a ‘differentiator’ as part of the Disney portfolio.”
Wednesday’s moves seem to mean Magnus is the No. 2 at ESPN behind Pitaro and in line to someday take over should Pitaro eventually step in for Iger as the head of Disney. Iger, 72, just returned from retirement, and there’s no timetable for how long he wants to stay. But Pitaro’s name has been floated as a possible successor.
Media tidbits
- The New York Times Ryan Mac, Mike Isaac and Kate Conger with “‘Sometimes Things Break’: Twitter Outages Are on the Rise.”
- The Boston Globe’s Dana Gerber with “After nearly six decades, Boston’s Black-owned paper passes to new owners.”
- Vanity Fair’s Joe Pompeo with “With her latest media project, Jane Pratt is still telling all.”
- The Wall Street Journal’s Joseph De Avila with “TikTok Introduces 60-Minute Daily Time Limit for Children.”
Hot type
- A superb visual investigation in The New York Times from Haley Willis, Christiaan Triebert, Hiba Yazbek and Patrick Kingsley: “How an Israeli Raid on a Safe House Ended With Civilians Killed.”
- Quite the story from The Washington Post’s Laura Meckler: “She pushed back her student’s hijab. Was it a mistake or an act of hate?”
More resources for journalists
- Hiring? Post jobs on The Media Job Board — Powered by Poynter, Editor & Publisher and America’s Newspapers.
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- Lead With Influence (Feb. 2023) (Seminar) — Register by Jan 30.
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Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.
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