Fox News is being sued in another case by Smartmatic, which is another maker of voting machines. Fox walked back its initial reporting and put this on the air: They apologize. That didn't happen with Dominion for whatever reason. Is it possible the suit could help Fox have own and Newsmax go out of business or go bankrupt because they can't afford to pay anything? It's not the worst possible outcome for them.
What’s one way to stop misinformation? It might just be a giant defamation lawsuit. This week, media titan Rupert Murdoch was deposed in a $1.6 billion suit brought by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News and Fox Corporation. They allege Fox knowingly and maliciously aired baseless claims accusing Dominion of an election fraud conspiracy. Somewhat surprisingly, instead of settling out of court, Fox News is denying the allegations, and the case is scheduled to go to trial in April. To unpack the lawsuit and the revelations it has brought (and will continue to bring) to light, we turned to New York Times reporter Jeremy Peters, who says this could be “one of the most consequential First Amendment cases in a generation.”
He breaks down the case, the souring Murdoch-Trump alliance and Fox News’s future. Plus, we review Ron DeSantis’s chances in 2024 (outlook: not good) and Ben Shapiro and Elon Musk’s chances of one day besting Murdoch (outlook: somewhat better).
You can find Kara and Nayeema on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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