Lachlan Murdoch Says Fox News Reports “Without Fear Or Favor” And “Noise” Over Dominion Suit Reflects “Polarized Society” Not Law
Lachlan Murdoch, in his first public comments about a defamation lawsuit against Fox News that’s been grabbing headlines, said he believes the network is even handed and the “noise” is more reflective of the nation’s divided politics than anything else.
“It think fundamentally, what I would say about it, is [that] a news organization has an obligation and it is an obligation to report the news fulsomely, wholesomely and without fear or favor. And that is what Fox News has always done and will always do,” he said at a Morgan Stanley investors conference Thursday.
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“And I think a lot of the noise is not about law … it is really about politics about. And that’s unfortunately more reflective of this sort of polarized society we live in today.”
His comments come several days after a flood of legal filings including incendiary emails and texts and deposition transcripts were released as part of a $1.6 billion defamation suit against Fox News by Dominion Voting Systems.
Dominion alleges that Fox News executives and hosts knowingly spread false information about Dominion which makes electronic voting machines helping to tip the election to Joe Biden, damaging the company. It alleges that Fox figures didn’t believe Donald Trump’s election fraud claims but amplified them on air anyway to avoid alienating Fox viewers, which could hit ratings and profits. At the time, right-wing cable news rivals Newsmax an OAN were making inroads against the longtime leader.
Fox News defends its coverage by arguing that a sitting president’s allegations of election fraud are undoubtedly newsworthy.
The case has generated huge attention in recent weeks, (except on Fox News) where it doesn’t appear to have impacted ratings.
Fox Corp.’s stock price is down by 1.16% today. This is likely to emerge as a major business story given the big sums at stake and potential value destruction. Chair of the board Rupert Murdoch has acknowledged he didn’t believe Dominion had committed fraud or that the election had been stolen and that he could have been more proactive in reining in Fox hosts.
Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch were also critical of Fox news reporters who broke with the Trump narrative of a stolen election.
Dominion and Fox will argue their motions for summary judgment in Delaware Superior Court on March 21. If he turns down both summary judgment motions, a jury trial is scheduled to start in April.
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