In a sane world, the revelations found in yesterday’s legal filing including internal communications at Fox News would have been a fatal blow to the credibility of the network.
Your MAGAt relatives will never see this story, in part because it didn’t make today’s papers (UT & LAT subscribers included) and/or because they are part of the 50% of Americans who told pollsters they feel most national news organizations intend to mislead, misinform or persuade the public.
Nothing shows this distrust more than reporting on the results of the 2020 election. Many organizations reported that accusations of voter fraud were not true, but they often left out the “why?” (undermining trust in democratic institutions) in their coverage.
Other media outlets repeated falsified accusations, knowing that their sources were dishonest, at best.
A 159 page filing by Dominion Voting Systems in the $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox showcases the differences between what its viewers were being told about the results of the 2020 presidential election results and the real opinions of the network’s hosts and executives.
From the Washington Post:
The documents provide a rare window into the inner workings of the cable news network and show how publicly Trump-friendly personalities were privately repulsed by the president’s post-election actions, with Carlson referring to Trump as a “demonic force,” according to the filings.
The filing in Delaware Superior Court ahead of an April trial is meant to bolster Dominion’s argument that Fox’s leadership was aware that the claims of election fraud were untrue but nonetheless “spread and endorsed” them, the company argued.
“Not a single Fox witness testified that they believe any of the allegations about Dominion are true,” Dominion argued in the filing. “Indeed, Fox witness after Fox witness declined to assert the allegations’ truth or actually stated they do not believe them, and Fox witnesses repeatedly testified that they have not seen credible evidence to support them.”
The phrase “utter, unsourced garbage” accurately describes what internal messaging at Fox News said about the content of false and conspiratorial claims being presented to viewers. It seems to me that they were just following orders.
On November 10, 2020, Trump advisor Steven Bannon wrote to Maria Bartiromo: “71 million voters will never accept Biden. This process is to destroy his presidency before it even starts; IF it even starts…. We either close on Trumps [sic] victory or del[e]gitimize Biden…. THE PLAN.”
An accurate call about the results from Arizona triggered panic at the highest levels of the corporation. As viewership at rival Newsmax rose after former President Trump lashed out at Fox, texts and emails reveal the underlying reasoning behind a trove of fake news aired in assorted programming.
Perhaps the most damning revelation concerned the email forming the basis of lawyer Sydney Powell’s on-air claims about a conspiracy at Dominion voting to rig the results.
It was based on an email Powell received from a tipster who also claimed that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was secretly murdered while on a human-hunting expedition.
Even after Fox host Maria Bartiromo had read the source email, she agreed to have Powell on her show. As Fox’s then-managing editor in Washington Bill Sammon said of the network’s coverage at the time: “It’s remarkable how weak ratings make good journalists do bad things.”
Reporters at the network who engaged in basic fact checking of claims coming out of the Trump camp were criticized by executives and high profile hosts who didn’t dispute the reporting but insisted on punishing them anyway.
Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity tried to get reporter Jacqui Heinrich fired for fact-checking a Trump tweet about Dominion and daring to say there was no evidence of votes being destroyed.
“Please get her fired,” Tucker said to Hannity, according to the filing. “Seriously What the f---? I’m actually shocked. It needs to stop immediately, like tonight. It's measurably hurting the company. The stock price is down. Not a joke.”
Yet Carlson, Hannity and Laura Ingraham admitted in a series of text messages that they knew Powell and Rudy Giuliani were peddling conspiratorial goods without evidence.
“Sidney Powell is lying. Fucking bitch,” Carlson wrote to Ingraham on Nov. 18. “Sidney is a complete nut. No one will work with her. Ditto with Rudy,” Ingraham responded.
And the filing reveals what Tucker Carlson really thought of Donald Trump. While publicly sucking up to Trump’s followers, Carlson privately called Trump “a demonic force, a destroyer” on Jan. 6, 2021.
“But he’s not going to destroy us,” he added, proving that the network’s actual view that money and self-interest are more important than democracy, morality or truth.
In court filings Fox’s attorneys have argued the network showed no “actual malice” — the high standard required in defamation cases — because all of the hosts who allowed false claims to be aired honestly believed there was a chance the election might have been stolen using Dominion’s machines.
Riiight. And the Easter Bunny is handling media awards this year.
Let me be clear about this, there’s nothing illegal (nor should there be) about what Fox news disseminated. I’m totally cool about it if it's labeled like they do for movies.
I think the AF (Approved by Fascists) label would be good for Fox. Networks like Sinclair and NewsMax deserve the TDB (Totally Delusional Bullshit) marker. Local fear monger KUSI should carry a local warning along the lines of COPS (Cranky Old People’s Slurs).
Seriously, I hope Dominion gets awarded every penny of the $1.6 billion they are asking for.
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Today’s Spews at Faux News:
Catalytic converts are stolen because the rare metals used in making them fetch a high price on the illicit market.
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