Murdoch acknowledges that Fox News hosts supported election fraud
Defamation of the Fox News Network: a High-Decision Judge’s Judgment and the Case against Dominion
The network was pressured by Trump and his aides to withdraw its announcement of Biden’s victory in Arizona after the election. A group of Fox News stars hosted some of the advisers of Donald Trump to peddle baseless conspiracy theories about the election. Many of those false claims asserted without evidence that Dominion’s technology and machines had been used to rig the vote and to cheat Trump of the White House.
In evidence presented on Monday, the voting-tech company said it had evidence proving Fox News and its parent company were guilty of $1.6 billion in defamation.
In a ruling yesterday, Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric M. Davis affirmed that Dominion should receive the contracts – the point of contention in Tuesday’s hearing.
The network refused to air Trump because it would be foolish to put him on the air because of how it would affect a lot of people, according to president Lauren Petterson’s testimony cited in the new filing.
In his discussions with the judge, Keller drew a distinction between a host and a network executive who are sometimes pre-scripting material for the show.
Rupert Murdoch, the Fox Corporation chairman, emailed Suzanne Scott, the Fox News chief executive, telling her that Newsmax needed to be “watched.” Murdoch stressed to her that everything was at stake and didn’t want to antagonize Trump further.
Nelson, the Dominion attorney, retorted by citing a document obtained from Fox that “talks about the daily editorial meeting that occurs, including almost all of these executives that we’re looking at right now.”
In answering questions from Dominion’s attorneys under oath, former Fox Business host Lou Dobbs said he had never “seen any verifiable, tangible support” that Dominion was owned by a second voting-tech company Smartmatic. That claim was said many times by Fox hosts and guests. According to legal documents, Dobbs was aware of no evidence that the election was rigged.
The Fox Business Dispatch: Why America’s Election is Corrupted and Why the Fox Media Shouldn’t Discern About It
The summary judgment motion that was made against Fox should be recognized for it’s blatant violations of the First Amendment because of the extreme view it took of defamation law.
Baier was the only one at Fox that didn’t comment on the assertions by Baker and Glasser. One person inside Fox with direct knowledge of its election coverage told NPR the delay in calling the full White House win for Biden involved a technical glitch in a control room as one show transitioned to the next at the top of the hour.
In her Fox interview in November, Bartiromo described Trump’s allegations of electoral fraud as disgusting and we cannot allow America’s election to be corrupted. She told viewers in mid-December that “an intel source” told her that Trump had won the election. Bartiromo never returned to explain what grounds the source made that statement. (Fox no longer publicly characterizes her as an anchor, which had rooted her in the news side of Fox, as opposed to an opinion host.)
The January 6 insurrection forced the cancellation of the show on Fox Business in which Dobbs promoted baseless conspiracies about the 2020 election.
Dominion’s legal team asked the court to compel additional testimony from Pirro late last month, arguing that after Fox invoked a reporter’s privilege to shield her from some questions during her deposition. A ruling on whether Pirro must return for questioning has not been made public.
Fox News, Red America, and Donald J. Trump: Is the New President? Donald Murdoch, a media outlet, is calling for change in libel law
One needs to understand where the Fox News is in Red America to understand the phenomenon. It’s no mere source of news. Red America feels like it is seen and heard in this place. If there’s an important good news story in Red America, the first call is to Fox. Fox is the first stop if conservatives face a threat to their civil liberties. Fox is the first call if you want to sell a book.
Murdoch rejected that Fox News, as an entity, endorsed former President Donald Trump’s election lies. Murdoch admitted that certain people had promoted lies about the 2020 presidential contest being stolen.
Murdoch is accusing a media outlet of defamation. He has forced the site to pay for highly critical commentary before, and it intends to use the suit as a test case for recent changes in libel law in that country. There is less legal cover for media outlets in Australia than there is in the US.
Murdoch’s media outlets got some coverage, but it doesn’t mean they will turn on Trump. Rather, it suggests that Murdoch might use his influence to tilt the scales and push Republicans toward DeSantis if the two squared off in a 2024 Republican primary.
Newt Gingrich, who was the Speaker of the House from 1997 to 2001, said on “Fox & Friends” that he thinks Gov.DeSantis is the single biggest winner of the night.
The home page of Fox News also prominently featured a column by conservative commentator Liz Peek that declared DeSantis “the new leader of the Republican Party.” Fox News called it a new era.
And The Wall Street Journal, the broadsheet owned by Murdoch, the newspaper’s conservative editorial board published a piece proclaiming the “DeSantis Florida tsunami.”
“There’s little doubt that his Florida success will grab the attention of voters outside the Sunshine State,” the editorial board wrote. “You can bet Donald J. Trump was watching—unhappily.”
The Fox News of Donald Trump: The Case Against Altruism and Fraud in the era of the TV airwaves and the Trump Era
Murdoch isn’t the only person who doesn’t think Fox News is a straight-shooting news organization. Paul Ryan wrote a letter to Murdochs, saying that sooner we could get onto principled opposition, the faster they could put down the echoes of lies.
Maggie Haberman, a reporter at The New York Times and CNN political analyst, reported recently in her bestselling book that after the 2020 election Murdoch remarked of Trump, “We should throw this guy over.”
Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images; Carolyn Kaster/AP; Alex Brandon/ AP; Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images.
During the show, network’s stars, producers and executives called those conspiracies “mind-blowingly nuts”, ” totally off the rails” and “bastards.” They also expressed contempt for them.
Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham mocked lies being pushed by the Trump camp about the election being rigged.
The Trump campaign’s attorney, Sidney Powell, was called a bit nuts by Ingraham. Carlson, who famously demanded evidence from Powell on the air, privately used a vulgar epithet for women to describe her. A top network programming executive wrote privately that he did not believe the shows of Carlson, Hannity and Jeanine Pirro were credible sources of news.
The documents keep emphasizing that Fox News is not a news network. News networks work hard to deliver the truth to their viewers. The documents show that Fox News executives and hosts knew the truth about the election and peddled it to the audience. When a group of hosts and correspondents tried to be honest with viewers, the highest level of Fox News was against them.
Fox News was in panic behind the scenes. Jay Wallace, the Fox News president, described Newsmax’s surge as “troubling” and said the network needed to be “on war footing.”
Neil Cavuto’s show was pulled away from a presentation by White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany that was full of false assertions, which his Fox News colleagues attacked. McEnany is a host on Fox News.
The 178 page brief presented by Fox shows that the allegations of election fraud were not underestimated, even among those that gave the most intense embrace to Trump allies.
A team led by then-Fox Corp senior vice president Raj Shah, formerly a White House aide to Trump, warned other top corporate leaders of a “Brand Threat” after Cavuto’s refusal to air McEnany’s White House press briefing on baseless claims of voter fraud.
The cable network’s attorneys say in a separate filing that the ten-figure request for damages is designed to “generate headlines” and benefit the company’s controlling owner.
Dominant Voting Systems vs Fox News: A Defamation of the NBC News Chief Political Anchor Bret Baier
On Nov. 5, 2020, just days after the election, Bret Baier, the network’s chief political anchor texted a friend: “[T]here is NO evidence of fraud. None. There are allegations and stories. Twitter. Bulls—.”
Sammon has declined to comment on his departure, which was termed retirement by Fox News, citing the terms of his departure.
The defamation case between the company and Fox was brought after the network refused to show the former President after his supporters attacked the US Capitol.
According to a source with knowledge of the panel’s work, the House select committee did not know that Trump had made the call.
The panel sought to piece together a near minute-by-minute account of Trump’s movements, actions and phone calls on that day. His newly revealed call to Fox News shows some of the gaps in the record that still exist, due to roadblocks the committee faced.
“The afternoon of January 6, after the Capitol came under attack, then-President Trump dialed into Lou Dobbs’ show attempting to get on air,” Dominion lawyers wrote in their legal brief.
Fox executives objected to the decision, according to Dominion’s filing. Why? Not because of a lack of newsworthiness. January 6 was an important event by any measure. President Trump not only was the sitting President, he was the key figure that day.”
The depth of it is best summed up in this account by The Times last week of an exchange dated Nov. 12, 2020: “In a text chain with Ms. Ingraham and Mr. Hannity, Mr. Carlson pointed to a tweet in which a Fox reporter, Jacqui Heinrich, fact-checked a tweet from Mr. Trump referring to Fox broadcasts and said there was no evidence of voter fraud from Dominion. Mr. Carlson said to get her fired. He added: ‘It needs to stop immediately, like tonight. It is hurting the company. The stock price has fallen. Not a joke.’ Ms. Heinrich deleted her retweeted message by the next morning.
The messages were contained in a stunning legal filing made public on Thursday as part of Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News, showing the network’s executives and talk hosts privately trashing lies pushed by former President Donald Trump’s camp and his supporters asserting the 2020 election was rigged.
Despite acknowledging the realiosity of the situation and the fact that it would cause viewers to disengage, the network allowed the lies to persist in large part due to its fear of offending its large audience.
The hosts were so alarmed by Newsmax’s rise, they were enraged when their colleague, White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich, tweeted a mere fact check of Trump’s election lies.
Carlson told Sean Hannity to get her fired. What the f**k? I am shocked, it needs to stop immediately. It’s measurably hurting the company.”
Hannity said he had already spoken to Scott about the matter. He then proceeded to criticize two of his other colleagues, Fox News host Neil Cavuto and then-Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, both of whom were critical of Trump.
Scott wrote Murdoch that Fox had to retain the audience that loved and trusted them. They need to be aware that we aren’t abandoning them. She letter to Murdoch said that the network would highlight our stars and plant flags to let viewers know we listen to them.
Dominion and the Murdoch Family aren’t: What Fox News and the South Carolina House is at its core about democracy and freedom of speech
“There will be a lot of noise and confusion generated by Dominion and their opportunistic private equity owners, but the core of this case remains about freedom of the press and freedom of speech, which are fundamental rights afforded by the Constitution and protected by New York Times v. Sullivan,” the network said.
Yup, Fox hosts and the Murdoch family were OK with discrediting the core engine of America’s democracy — our ability to peacefully and legitimately transfer power — if it would hold their audience and boost their stock.
I’ve never met Haley, but from afar it seemed that she had a reasonably good story to tell — a successful South Carolina governor from 2011 to 2017, Trump’s first U.N. ambassador and the daughter of Indian immigrants. Her mother, Raj, studied law at the University of New Delhi, and after immigrating to South Carolina, earned a master’s degree in education and became a local public-school teacher. Her father, Ajit, earned a doctorate from the University of British Columbia, and went on to teach biology for 29 years at Voorhees College. They opened a clothing boutique on the side.
Fox News has been accused of being the opposition to Democratic officeholders and candidates. It’s been known for a long time that that is the case. Fox leadership like Ryan talk candidly about what the company is at its core.
“Some of our commentators were endorsing it,,” Murdoch said, according to the filing, when asked about the talk hosts’ on-air positions about the election. He wanted us to be stronger in condemning it.
The filing by Dominion clearly lays out the difference between what people were saying publicly and what top people at Fox were saying privately.
Tushnet had never seen such incriminating evidence in the pre- trial phase of a defamation suit.
The Murdochs, Fox Corp., and Their Senior Commistors, a Deposition of David D. Dinh, Chairman of the Baltimore Sun Media Studies Program
In his deposition, Mr. Dinh, when asked if Fox executives had an obligation to stop hosts of shows from broadcasting lies, said: “Yes, to prevent and correct known falsehoods.”
David Zurawik is a media studies professor at Goucher College. For three decades, he was a media critic at the Baltimore Sun. The opinions he makes are of his own. View more opinion on CNN.
Murdoch gave Trump’s son-in-law a glimpse of Biden’s ads before they were made public, according to the filing. At most news organizations, this type of action would result in an investigation and disciplinary measures.
The documents show that the business model of the channel is only based on providing content to its audience that makes them happy and watch.
Murdoch was asked whether he could have stopped Fox News’ chiefs from giving airtime to Rudy Giuliani, a key Trump campaign attorney. Murdoch said he could have. “But I didn’t.”
Fox claims that the parent company and its executives are wrongly held responsible for reporting baseless assertions of a president and his advisers.
Emails and other communications introduced into the case show that there was deep involvement by the Murdochs and other Fox Corp. senior figures.
Suzanne Scott was the head of Fox News and she testified that Murdoch spoke roughly daily. Murdoch’s father and brother both said it was only once or twice a week.
“I’m a journalist at heart,” the elder Murdoch, who is just two weeks shy of his 92nd birthday, said in his deposition. “I like to be involved in these things.”
The Fox News Anchor: Tell Me Now, or Let Me ‘Turn Me Down,’ When I Am Going to Leave the Fox News Channel
Scott forwarded his recommendation to the top executive over prime-time programming, Meade Cooper. She canceled the show that weekend due to the fact that the guests are going to say the election is being stolen, and if she pushes back at all it will be a token, according to the filings.
The next day, Lachlan Murdoch warned Scott that a Fox News anchor’s coverage of a pro-Trump rally was “[s]mug and obnoxious”; Scott responded that she was “calling now” to remedy. (Anchor Leland Vittert’s final appearance on Fox was in January 2021; he is now an anchor for the fledgling cable news outlet NewsNation.)
Ryan believed Fox News must be a part of the solution if we are to solve the problem in the conservative movement.
Just tell her, said Lachlan. Fox News is making changes as quickly as possible. We need to lead our viewers in a way that isn’t easy.
Tucker Carlson had a guest on his show. Rupert Murdoch told Dominion’s attorneys he could stop taking money for MyPillow ads, “[B]ut I’m not about to.”
Who is he? Rupert Murdoch is a media magnate and the Fox News Channel’s controlling owner (as well as one of the inspirations for the protagonist in HBO’s Succession).
What Happens When Fox News is Sued for Using E-mail, Text, or Email Addresses Not to Be Posted on the Air
Every tv anchor and media executive should learn that email and text messages are not always public when your company is sued.
It is particularly painful if, like Fox News executives, the messages appear to show that you are allowing false information on the air.
Note that he said company. The Fox leaders and top talent were focused on the company, not the country. Democracy was at stake, but the larger concern at Fox News appears to be that rival Newsmax was gaining traction after Trump lashed out at Fox News for his 2020 election loss.
Did Fox viewers question the election because of what they saw on the network, or did Fox allow election falsehoods on its air because it feared its viewers?
Darcy notes that Ryan was grilled by a conservative commentator last week over his decision to remain on the board of directors of Fox News’ parent company.
Ryan said there isn’t a bigger platform in America. I don’t like where the conservatives are right now, because they are going through a lot of turmoil.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/01/politics/fox-news-republicans-what-matters/index.html
Hardcore Donald Trump supporters: A conversation with Ron DeSantis at the PAC/Casino Forum on the Left and the Right
During the George W. Bush administration, Fox would have been a major backer of military aid for Ukraine if Russia had invaded as it did a year ago. That perspective is still evident on the network, where many guests talk about the importance of Ukraine aid.
Carlson, like Trump, is questioning whether the US should oppose Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine.
As CNN says, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is an evolution in his own policy position, because when he was a congressman, he wanted to send weapons to Ukraine.
Trump will appear this weekend at the Conservative Political Action Conference, long a major stop for potential Republican presidential candidates. Haley, the other major candidate, will attend as well.
The author of the new book, who is soft launching a campaign, is not going to the event. He will be going to a private retreat in Palm Beach for the anti-tax Club for Growth.
CNN’s Melanie Zanona and Manu Raju interviewed two dozen or so lawmakers that Raju described as “hardcore Trump supporters, people who are part of the Freedom Caucus, people who were essentially his staunchest defenders during his four years in office.”
“The overriding concern among Republicans: They are concerned about Trump’s viability as a candidate,” Raju said. They were worried that he would give Joe Biden another four years in the White House because of his poor performance in the last three election cycles.
Multiple members of the Freedom Caucus actually traveled to Florida not to meet with Trump, but instead to talk to DeSantis, according to Raju. They were impressed.
Murdoch’s fate in the media empire: News of the World editor-in-chief Ben Smith to Fox News CEO Roger Ailes vs. Fox News host O’Reilly
The Murdochs are planning for Suzanne Scott to fall, according to Ben Smith, the editor-in-chief who writes a Sunday night media column.
This is not the first time that Murdoch has been faced with a serious and embarrassing matter in his media empire. The News of the World newspaper was found to be involved in a phone hacking scandal. In 2016, Fox News founder Roger Ailes was accused in an explosive lawsuit of sexual harassment. And in 2017, star host Bill O’Reilly was caught in his own sexual misconduct scandal.
Murdoch decided to let go of top personnel in each case. A person who was once a worker in Murdoch-world said Wednesday that the owner has always thrown money at the problem and offered a head or two in order to bring it down. Cutting ties with Scott would be an easy way for Murdoch to get rid of him over the course of his decades as the head of one of the world’s biggest media empires.
Folkenflik thinks that Murdoch and the companies have tended to pay early and quietly to make things go away, or they haven’t thought about how big they are. When things get to a head, they try to bandage the wound at the lowest level possible.
Folkenflik said that Scott would only do it if he tossed him over. That is his record. That’s what he does. It can be editors. It can be someone in a position of power. It can be stars. He is not throwing himself over the side.
“Murdoch has a history of sacrificing loyal lieutenants, but he does it only in the most extreme circumstances,” Rutenberg said. “We know that he hates doing it. We know that he tends to try to fight for his loyalists, even for Ailes, certainly for O’Reilly. He will do it when there is a necessity to overcome any threat to his business.
We’ll see what Scott’s fate ultimately looks like. For now, Fox is not offering any public statement of support for her. The company wouldn’t respond when I reached out on Wednesday.
The Fox News Channel: How Fox News got a kick out of the ’60s and why we should not give up on American life
Ailes, a key member of the media team that helped put Richard Nixon in the White House in 1968, saw it as an outlet that could be used to promulgate and amplify a conservative viewpoint. It was about propaganda from the beginning. It was created to counterbalance a liberal bias in network TV, public radio, and the top newspapers in the country. The channel was always about politics and ideology and he did a good job of describing it as news.
Today, Fox is further away from the news part of its name than ever. It still presents itself as a news channel in name using the tropes of anchor desks, correspondents and panels of guests.
It has become so much deeper culturally. Fox News is a world view, a lifestyle, a way of seeing the world, a 24/7 warm bath of false nostalgia and aggrievement primarily for older adults – some of whom are likely feeling left behind or threatened by the changes in American life. Fox tells them that if they are struggling, it is not their fault. The democrats in Washington are giving away the country to immigrants and minorities in a way that is illogical and false.
If you look rationally at the potential effect of Murdoch’s admission, you might think some audience members would be so angry they might tune out the channel forever.
As shocking and even disgusting as some of us in the mainstream media find Murdoch’s deposition, my relatives won’t be changing their viewing habits because of it. And I suspect most other viewers who have let Fox News that far into their lives won’t be either.
Murdoch told Scott to concentrate on Georgia during the time when the state held a high-stakes special election that would decide the balance of power in the US Senate.
Murdoch responded to Col Allan, who was editor of the New York Post, that Biden’s only chance of winning was to stay in his basement and not face serious questions. If the audience talks the theme will spread.”
