Originally published at: Fox News trial delayed. "Things happen," says the judge | Boing Boing
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I feel that it is not just money but also to clear their name, and with the judge’s pretrial rulings they have done that. All that is left is money.
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This is one trial I want to go forward-getting fox on the stand under oath would definitely bring joy.
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I really doubt that Dominion would settle in this case. I’ve read elsewhere (can’t find source though), that Dominion wants this to go to trial and get a verdict. If they “settled”, then their reputation is still damaged because Fox could just claim they never did anything wrong and it was all about a money grab.
Well I guess we will know by tomorrow if the trial starts/doesn’t start.
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I hope it’s a big ruinous cheque that cuts into subsidies for Swanson and the other fascist hosts. And make no mistake, if Dominion accepts a settlement it should be widely reported as yet more evidence of Faux News’ malfeasance.
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If they’ve cleared their name. Why is the political right still pushing the exact conspiracy theory they’re suing over?
And it’s been clear from the start that Dominion’s goal was more about preserving their reputation and striking back at misinformation. It’s unlikely any court is going to hand them billions. But that money is a core consequence on Fox. And the only real consequence that can be levelled at a massive media company.
It’s absolutely essential to checking Fox’s behavior here, they do this because it makes money. We now have emails and text messages where they discuss that in detail. If it becomes financially and legally risky to just make shit up. They’ll tone it down. Same as when all the sexual assault accusation, criticism, and lawsuits around guys like O’Reilly and Beck had no impact. But when advertisers balked those guys lost their shows fast.
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In terms of the richest and the legal system the persistent impression is instead that “Things don’t happen” -sigh-
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IIRC Dominion’s spokes person and principals have said in interviews that they have a public duty to take it to trial. And that it would actually be wrong to settle.
There’s certainly a bit of public messaging in that. But everything about this thing shows these people have taken this personally and want the public scrutiny of Fox.
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They’re a corporation, so at the end of the day they’ll probably go with whichever path they think will make sense for them financially. If Fox offers them a big enough check as part of a settlement then they’ll probably just take it and go about the long process of rebuilding their brand, but I’m sure it would have to be a BIG freaking check.
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If Murdoch cuts a check for Dominion and Dominion accepts, justice will have been ignored and a stain of doubt will remain on Dominion.
Who’s to say Dominion, if a check was large enough, would allow their machines to throw an election. Integrity is at stake here.
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I think it would have to come with the sort of public acknowledgement that Fox would be settling to avoid.
Dominion’s core business is at serious long term risk from the conspiracy theories, and the company and it’s employees at potential legal risk given how many politicians buy the claims. They are owned by a venture capital firm, but even as goes “preserve shareholder value” or whatever. A chunk of cash now and your core business fucked isn’t really that.
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Their core business is fucked either way though; it’s not like the conspiracy theorists are going to start trusting Dominion voting systems again if Fox admits they were lying about everything.
A big enough check would make this go away. The question is whether Fox is willing or even capable of writing a check that big.
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I wish fox would be held fully and publicly accountable for ALL the damage they caused with their lies.
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All we can say for certain is that is in Fox’s interest to end this as fast as possible, and that Dominion currently appears to have the upper hand. It’s a civil case, so a settlement negotiation is almost certainly underway. Dominion doesn’t need to accept a settlement that it deems unfavorable, which means they want a big check and probably a public admission from Fox. They can probably afford the lawyer time in court if they don’t get what they want.
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I am wondering if them WINNING the case would then set a precedent, making going after others (OAN, Newsmax, Lindell, etc) easier in the future. Or for future elections where they might want to use Dominion as a scapegoat again.
It would also make it so people can’t say “Well Dominion did it, but they settled out of court.” Though for some people it wouldn’t matter if they won or not. It’s still a fact that could be reported and repeated that they won the case.
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Dominion voting systems is owned by a private equity firm. If the check is big enough, the private equity firm’s ownership will get their massive payout and be on their way.
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But people who buy their machines internationally are more likely to ignore said conspiracy theorists if they shut Fox the fuck up, publicly embarrass them etc. And if major media companies aren’t constantly repeating the claims, it will have less and less impact over time. Conspiracies and false claims tend to fade back to the fringe with repeated exposure, failures of predictions, and without repetition. There’s a long term here the company needs to consider.
I have no doubt that a big enough check would make it go away. It just seems like the “big enough” part is more predicated on “hurts Fox” than “lines our pockets”. And I think it would have to come with the sort of public acknowledgement by Fox that would have a similar effect as a trial.
If a more usual settlement deal goes down. One where Fox acknowledges no wrong doing, and Dominion isn’t allowed to address the situation or deal. Then Dominion still has the core problem they’re trying to connect.
I don’t really see Fox agreeing to something that doesn’t spare their reputation. Especially given that the cost to continue vs cost to settle math is a whole lot different when some one is coming after you for billions. There’s a long time before the legal costs catch up to whatever settlement would work.
This not the only Defamation suit out of Dominion, nor the only suit against Fox over this. There’s a personal lawsuit from one of Dominion’s principals against a whole group of individuals and news orgs. And Smartmatic is also suing Fox and some other right wing rags.
It’s not really a problem Fox can hush up. And it doesn’t really go away even if they find a way to pay Dominion off. I remember catching some commentary that even just settling all of this stuff to make it go away could potentially bankrupt Newscorp. Which, eh, probably not.
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It’s a balancing act to be sure. Even if Dominion has a strong case against Fox they’re always a chance they could lose as long as they have to take the case to a jury, so they might choose to accept an 800-million-dollar bird in the hand rather than a 1.6-billion-dollar bird in the bush, so to speak.
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Fox is going to do everything they can to keep this from being televised
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