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Fox could face 'financial death penalty' if Dominion suit brings significant punitive damages [1]

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Date: 2023-03-11

And while Fox would certainly be hurt by a $1.6 billion judgment in favor of Dominion Voting Systems, whose lawsuit against the network brought its serial malfeasance to light, it turns out that there’s some reason to hope for an even grimmer outcome for Rupert Murdoch’s merry band of bullshitters.

In a new column, Katie Phang, a lawyer and host of MSNBC’s The Katie Phang Show, argues that Dominion’s defamation suit could be an even bigger blow to the network than some starry-eyed liberals might hope.

MSNBC:

In the Dominion versus Fox News defamation case, Fox is now trapped in an ever-worsening spiral of lies of its own creation. Time and time again, Fox allegedly trafficked in lies and falsehoods. And the result just might be a financial death penalty for the network. As we’ve seen put forth in the thousands upon thousands of pages of evidence released during the discovery process in this case, people at Fox News allegedly knew the channel was repeatedly peddling lies. But it didn’t care. Because, according to the lawsuit, profits were more important than the truth. Because, as in the words of Fox CEO Rupert Murdoch, Fox did not want to “antagonize [Donald] Trump further,” and he wanted to keep Trump’s supporters as viewers, even as he admitted under oath during his deposition that he “never believed” that Dominion rigged the 2020 presidential election.

Of course, it’s been clear for some time that Fox News considers profits more important than the truth. In fact, it’s damn difficult to find examples of things Fox considers less important. Certainly protecting sexual assaulters was more important. As was fluffing up the worst human being on the planet. And killing their own viewers with a virus. Those were all vitally important to Fox—and the truth was always, at best, an afterthought.

But as Phang notes, while it’s easy to get away with lying in the public sphere—fact-checkers are appreciated, but in the end they’re essentially just hall monitors who continually get shoved into lockers by the wrestling team—pathological liars need to be far more circumspect when they’re summoned to a courtroom. And it turns out it’s a lot easier to fool your MAGA brother than a judge.

While it may be wishful thinking to believe Fox will either be destroyed or chastened enough by the outcome of this lawsuit to stop—or significantly stem—its lying, Phang nevertheless believes Dominion’s fight against Fox could be a watershed moment.

If Dominion is successful, then all that would be left to determine is the amount of damages that Dominion is entitled to receive. That’s where the numbers become astronomical. Dominion is seeking $1.6 billion in lost profits and reputational harm. But it’s also seeking punitive damages, which are not capped under New York state law and could also be in the billions of dollars. Punitive damages are intended to punish the wrongdoer and to deter others from repeating that egregious conduct. And a multi-billion-dollar punitive damages verdict would not just punish Fox News. It would send a ringing message to all media companies to keep themselves in check and uphold the truth.

So the trick would be to punish Fox so severely for its lies that it would no longer be economically feasible to employ brazen liars. Which means it would basically have to start over from scratch.

Yeah, yeah, I know. It will take one big-ass torpedo to put a meaningful dent in Rupert Murdoch’s hard, cynical crust. But if it’s ever going to happen, now is the time.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/11/2157483/-Fox-could-face-financial-death-penalty-if-Dominion-suit-brings-significant-punitive-damages

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