Fox settles Dominion defamation lawsuit for $787.5M, avoiding trial | Hacker News Reader

Fox settles Dominion defamation lawsuit for $787.5M, avoiding trial

reuters.com

9 pointsrntn10 comments

That's... a pretty sizeable sum. Dominion is a pretty small organization - even had they won their case in court I strongly doubt that final damages would have been over three quarters of a billion dollars for a defamation case.

Fox REALLY didn't want this to go to trial.

Dominion filed for $1.6B, and final damages may not have been that, but Fox did not want to find out.

I disagree on the amount, it is extremely unlikely based on previous case law they would have been fined any more so then they did. Proving damages, especially between 10 and 20 years of all revenue is extremely unlikely to be awarded in court.

What Fox did not want is all the details in a public trail as it would be devastating and open them up to an even further number of lawsuits. Already today investors have started a lawsuit against the company.

> Dominion alleged that Fox staff, from newsroom employees all the way up to Murdoch, knew the statements were false but continued to air them out of fear of losing viewers to media competitors on the right.

Better to ask for forgiveness than permission...

Forgiveness definitely came with a hefty price tag --- not just in monetary terms but also credibility --- assuming their viewers really care.

I think most Fox fans are seeking affrimation more so than truth --- it's how religion works. We're going to lie to you --- but it's for your own good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdEQmpVIE4A

Sorry to see they settled. I wanted FoxNews and Dominion’s dirty laundry aired in court. There’s a lot there.

https://archive.is/lBFPZ

Why isn't the stock down though? Was this priced in?

Probably. The only recourse Fox really had was to settle and try to keep the final tab under a billion dollars.

News organizations can get away with a lot, I mean a lot, but the better part of Fox’s entire legal defense was resting on New York Times vs Sullivan. The damage they did to Dominion’s reputation worldwide is maybe still over that line, and Fox did not want to be the test case, nor was prolonged litigation doing them any favors.

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