Murdoch Cuts And Runs

It has long been the view of commentators, from the left to those few remaining on the right who are not down the rabbit hole, that Murdoch property Fox News Channel (fair and balanced my arse) is not about news. It is a propaganda outlet, which at the time of the 2020 US Presidential Election was shilling for Combover Crybaby Donald Trump. Who lost.

The Donald could not, would not accept that he lost. Maintaining that he had in reality won, he blamed voter fraud, but there was none. He blamed the left, but this too was bunk. Then he blamed voting machines, which in the retelling had mysteriously switched votes from him to Joe Biden. This was not only untrue, it was preposterous. But that didn’t stop his supporters.

And that is where FNC came unstuck, pushing stories about voting machines which were not only untrue, but that their hosts knew to be untrue. Those hosts gave a platform to wacko conspiracy theorists like lawyer Sidney Powell, knowing all the time that she was lying. And many of those lies were aimed at one company - Dominion Voting Systems.

Ultimately, Dominion sued for defamation. The Murdoch mafiosi were their usual belligerent selves: they kept on lying about voting machines, while getting their lawyers to try and throw the case out. The case did not get thrown out. The discovery phase of the action made public a number of snippets which Don Rupioni would rather had not been made public.

Murdoch admitted he could have intervened to stop the lies, but equally admitted that he didn’t; FNC executives wanted to hold on to their pro-Trump and pro-wacko conspiracy theory audience, rather than lose them by telling them the truth; what the channel did in the run-up to the Presidential Election looked awfully like unpaid advertising for The Trump campaign.

The case should have come to trial this week. But on Monday, a 24 hour delay was announced. By Tuesday, it seemed that the trial would go ahead anyway. But then another delay was announced. Murdoch and his fellow media mafiosi had settled: Dominion would not receive the $1.6 billion they initially demanded in damages, but a lesser $787.5 million.

As the BBC has reported, “The deal spares Fox executives such as Rupert Murdoch from having to testify” before the real taking of the piss: “Fox said Tuesday's settlement in one of the most anticipated defamation trials in recent US history reflected its ‘commitment to the highest journalistic standards’”. FNC doesn’t have any “journalistic standards”.

What the Beeb also told was that “The Fox statement added without elaborating that the network ‘acknowledges the court's rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false’ … Dominion chief executive John Poulos told a press conference the deal included Fox ‘admitting to telling lies, causing enormous damage to my company’”. That’s going to hurt.

We saw how FNC deals with reality. “The lawsuit said that the false claims were partly an effort to win over viewers who were angered by Fox's decision on election night to - correctly - declare that Mr Trump's then-challenger, Joe Biden, had won the crucial state of Arizona … Two of the Fox executives responsible for the Arizona decision lost their jobs two months later”.

Thees organisation does not tolerate reality, Meester Bond. At least the two unfortunate executives were spared poisonous spiders, venom from a spiked toe-cap, being cut in two by a laser beam, electrocution in front of their peers, being thrown to hungry piranha fish, cremated alive, falling into a coffin full of venomous snakes, or being literally thrown to the dogs.

But, as Yashar Ali has noted, Murdoch cutting and running is because of one ego: “1. $787.5 million settlement from Fox … 2. Over 1,000 people charged with federal crimes for Jan 6 … 3. A complex special counsel investigation … 4. Careers and reputations destroyed … 5. A major state investigation … All because one man, Donald Trump, couldn’t admit he lost”.

And it’s not over for Fox News, as Ben Smith observed. “Statement from Smartmatic lawyer Erik Connolly: ‘Dominion’s litigation exposed some of the misconduct and damage caused by Fox’s disinformation campaign. Smartmatic will expose the rest … Smartmatic remains committed to clearing its name, recouping the significant damage done to the company, and holding Fox accountable for undermining democracy”. Another big payout looms.

Pundits from across the political spectrum, from Keith Olbermann to former Fox and Friends host Gretchen Carlson, had urged Dominion not to settle and to make an example of FNC. Now the same entreaties are being made of Smartmatic. Rupert Murdoch and family made one hell of a mistake.

And Trump? Like he gives a shit about anyone else. Never mind, Rupe, eh?

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