Rupert Murdoch’s network was accused of defamation: it will pay $787.5 million in compensation
Fox negotiates and reaches an agreement with Dominion Voting Systems, a company that manages voting machines in the United States, which had accused it of defamation for theories on alleged fraud in the 2020 election. Rupert Murdoch’s network will pay $787.5 million to end a two-year legal battle that has destroyed the conservative network’s credibility. CNN is calling it the largest defamation settlement in U.S. history involving a media company. Dominion Voting Systems had asked the broadcaster for $ 1.6 billion in damages for spreading baseless allegations by Donald Trump and his allies of alleged fraud in the 2020 election.
“The parties have settled their case,” Judge Eric Davis said before dismissing the 12-member juror, crediting them with giving the parties the impetus to reach a settlement, commending attorneys on both sides.
Fox’s credibility has already been significantly damaged by the investigative material that emerged in recent weeks, private messages and emails that showed how its own executives did not believe in conspiracy theories, but continued to spread them for audience reasons. Not only Fox Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch, but ultraconservative anchors like Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, big Trump supporters, knew that the former president’s lies about the election were completely unrelated to reality, but they continued to focus their shows on this because, they claimed, this was what the listeners wanted. Indeed, other messages reveal that the few Fox reporters who tried to challenge Trump’s arguments later faced disciplinary action.
Source-www.adnkronos.com