Fox reported extensively during the last presidential election that electoral fraud prevented Donald Trump from becoming president of the United States. A crucial role in ‘stealing’ the elections was played by Dominion, who allegedly manipulated the results of the votes. “On Fox you’ve actually heard the craziest theories about how Dominion (…) was actually founded to rig elections,” says Postma.
Fox accused Dominion of a whole series of illegal practices: the company allegedly inserted secret software into machines, received money from politicians to influence elections, the company was allegedly founded by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to influence elections. Those conspiracy theories have been circulated by Fox News for weeks and “the consequences have been such, as Dominion personnel have received threats. Some had to hide.’
Slander
Dominion is suing Fox for defamation, damage to reputation and its impact on personnel who were threatened. Things are looking bad for Fox, who has already suffered some setbacks. According to Postma, the judge has already ruled that Fox’s allegations of electoral fraud are unfounded. Although Fox defends himself with the argument that then-President Trump made the allegations and that the channel needed to report on them, the judge rejected that argument.
There are also internal emails from presenters, employees, and Fox boss Rupert Murdoch himself, proving they knew no fraud had been committed. The fact that the channel kept pumping conspiracy theories against better judgment was because it didn’t want to lose viewers. Fox’s audience is mostly Trump supporters.
Fact checking was bad for business. This is how Fox looked at it
The smoking gun, according to Postma, is that at one point a manager said no fact checking should be done because it was “bad for business.” “That’s basically the summary of how Fox saw it.” Rupert Murdoch himself could also be subpoenaed as a witness, just like his children. Notable: Fox does not report on the case. “It hasn’t been a topic on the news.”