Fox News is not the only conservative media outlet that is legally hot on this issue. Dominion has filed similar lawsuits against Newsmax and One America News Network. The media are also defendants in similar defamation lawsuits filed by election software company Smartmatic, which is seeking $2.7 billion in its lawsuit against Fox. The Daily Beast reported Tuesday that Fox had recently scaled back its research team, cutting it by about a quarter during modest network-wide layoffs. Fox News said the size of the cut on the unit is exaggerated. It stated that it had eliminated duplication and that those functions were carried out elsewhere in its drafting committee and programmes. Fox`s legal team cited the broad protections offered by the First Amendment, arguing that statements about Dominion machines were made by its moderators such as M. Dobbs and Mrs. Bartiromo and guests like Rudolph W.
Giuliani and Sidney Powell were a protected opinion and the kind of speech that any media organization would treat as undeniably newsworthy. In 2018, Trump asked Webb to represent him as his legal troubles escalated during the special counsel`s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Webb refused, citing trade disputes. Soon after, Fox replaced its outside legal team in the case, hiring one of the country`s most prominent litigators — a sign that executives believe the chances of the case going to court have increased. Fox News and Fox Business have given some of the loudest purveyors of these theories, including Mike Lindell, the founder of MyPillow, and Mr. Giuliani, the president`s personal lawyer, has a platform in the days and weeks following mainstream media outlets like Fox Joseph R. Biden Jr. President-elect. In an interview, Mr.
Giuliani falsely claimed that Dominion was owned by a Venezuelan company that had close ties to Mr. Dominion. Chávez, and that it was founded „to manipulate elections.“ (Dominion was founded in Canada in 2002 by a man who wanted to make it easier for the blind to vote.) Vyskocil`s decision last week dismissing a defamation lawsuit against Carlson was a victory for Fox, First Amendment principles, and the media in general, as Fox News itself claims. For legal reasons, the judge ruled that Karen McDougal, the woman suing Carlson, could not overcome the challenge. „When the president and his lawyers make allegations, it`s newsworthy in itself,“ Dan Webb, the attorney who was brought in by Fox a few weeks ago, said in an interview. „For the sake of saying it shouldn`t be reported, I don`t think a jury would buy that. And that`s what the plaintiffs are saying here. The richest man in the world will now be questioned by Twitter lawyers on October 6 and 7 in Wilmington, Delaware. The two sides are due to face a legal test of strength from 17 October. According to a person familiar with Fox`s legal strategy who was not authorized to comment, the company will argue that the news department`s coverage of the election fraud allegations made by Trump and his lawyers was newsworthy and protected by the First Amendment.
In summary, Fox News lawyers scoffed at McDougal`s legal team`s legal case. She stated that „a reasonable viewer of ordinary intelligence hears or watches the program. would conclude that [she] is a criminal who blackmailed Trump for money“ and that „the statements about her were facts.“ The Fox team`s legal briefs compared Carlson`s show to radio talk shows hosted by former MSNBC and Fox Business star Don Imus, who won a lawsuit more than two decades ago because an appeals court ruled that „the impugned statements would not have been interpreted by reasonable listeners as statements of fact. but simply as cases in which the defendant radio hosts expressed their opinions in a crude and exaggerated manner. Over the air, it has become their verbal stock in the trade over the years. For Dominion to convince a jury that Fox should be held liable for defamation and pay damages, it must overcome an extremely high legal hurdle known as „real malevolence.“ Dominion must either demonstrate that the people within Fox knew that what the hosts and guests said about the voting technology company was false, or that they actually ignored the information proving that the statements in question were false – which is legally known as reckless disregard for the truth. „His extensive litigation experience will add depth to our legal team and ensure that First Amendment protections and the fundamental right to a free press remain intact,“ the company said in a statement commenting on Webb`s hiring. Fox also faces a lawsuit filed by a separate voting systems company, Smartmatic, over similar allegations of voter fraud. Dominion and Smartmatic sued other smaller cable news channels, including One America News and Newsmax, over allegations about those networks about the companies and their software. Fox News has added a new lawyer to its legal team in its battle against Dominion Voting Systems, which is suing the cable news giant for defamation after it aired false allegations of voter fraud after the 2020 election.
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