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Sunday, May 14, 2023 12:37:14 AM
Lachlan Murdoch explains settlement, says no change at Fox
Have to be a bit more careful, but we're just gonna go on being a
conservative propaganda company as long as it makes us bucks.
By DAVID BAUDER May 10, 2023
FILE - Lachlan Murdoch appears at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Feb. 9, 2020. Fox
News paid $787 million to settle a recent lawsuit on its reporting after the 2020 election to avoid a divisive
trial and lengthy appeals process, its parent company's chief executive said on Tuesday. Murdoch,
executive chairman and CEO of Fox Corp., said a Delaware judge “severely limited” Fox's
defenses against Dominion Voting Systems, which said the network defamed it by airing bogus
charges of election fraud that it knew was untrue.
(Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Fox News paid $787 million to settle a recent lawsuit on its reporting after the 2020 election to avoid a divisive trial and lengthy appeals process, its parent company’s chief executive said on Tuesday.
Lachlan Murdoch, executive chairman and CEO of Fox Corp., also noted that a Delaware judge “severely limited” Fox’s defenses against Dominion Voting Systems, which said the network defamed it by airing bogus charges of election fraud that it knew was untrue.
Fox Corp. announced Tuesday that it had lost $50 million the previous three months, which it attributed to the lawsuit settlement. Murdoch, who answered questions from financial analysts, was speaking in public for the first time since the case ended and Fox fired its most popular anchor, Tucker Carlson.
Related coverage
– Fox Corp. dinged by Dominion settlement in third quarter
https://apnews.com/article/fox-dominion-loss-trump-biden-earnings-6be795be2f791e604401d5e48fc28aa4
– Since his ouster, embarrassing reports on Carlson pile up
https://apnews.com/article/tucker-carlson-fox-news-dominion-racist-text-0ca0ef08799f3d99d88ea953e9dd7dac
Murdoch said viewers, and investors, should expect no change in direction from Fox News.
“We made the business decision to resolve this dispute and avoid the acrimony of a divisive trial and multi-year appeal process, a decision clearly in the best interests of the company and its shareholders,” he said.
Fox still believes it was properly exercising its First Amendment rights to report on newsworthy fraud allegations made by former President Donald Trump, even though that defense was shot down in a pre-trial court ruling .. https://apnews.com/article/fox-news-dominion-trump-election-lies-voting-42cae434c4cfadbbafe73d1f2bca8e4d .. in the Dominion case, Murdoch said.
That’s important, since Murdoch said Fox intends to use the same defense against a similar lawsuit by another elections technology company, Smartmatic. That case is not expected to go to trial until at least 2025, he said.
Despite being asked directly about Carlson’s exit, Murdoch didn’t mention the former prime-time host’s name and referred to his reign obliquely. Fox has not explained why it cut ties with Carlson.
“There’s no change in programming strategy at Fox News,” he said. “It’s obviously a successful strategy. As always, we are adjusting our programming and our lineup and that’s what we continue to do.”
VIDEO
Although hurt by the Carlson exit, Fox News remains the leading cable news network.
Fox has lost viewers following Carlson’s firing. Last week’s substitute host, Lawrence Jones, reached between 1.28 million and 1.7 million last week in a time slot where Carlson usually drew around 3 million, the Nielsen company said.
Yet Fox has gained more than 40 new advertisers in that hour, the network said, confirming a report in Variety. Advertisers like Gillette, Scott’s Miracle Gro and Secret deodorant that had considered Carlson’s show a toxic environment have signed on.
https://apnews.com/article/fox-news-carlson-lawsuit-lachlan-murdoch-4a36400a9b25cfa78de71c0e093e395e
Have to be a bit more careful, but we're just gonna go on being a
conservative propaganda company as long as it makes us bucks.
By DAVID BAUDER May 10, 2023
FILE - Lachlan Murdoch appears at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Feb. 9, 2020. Fox
News paid $787 million to settle a recent lawsuit on its reporting after the 2020 election to avoid a divisive
trial and lengthy appeals process, its parent company's chief executive said on Tuesday. Murdoch,
executive chairman and CEO of Fox Corp., said a Delaware judge “severely limited” Fox's
defenses against Dominion Voting Systems, which said the network defamed it by airing bogus
charges of election fraud that it knew was untrue.
(Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Fox News paid $787 million to settle a recent lawsuit on its reporting after the 2020 election to avoid a divisive trial and lengthy appeals process, its parent company’s chief executive said on Tuesday.
Lachlan Murdoch, executive chairman and CEO of Fox Corp., also noted that a Delaware judge “severely limited” Fox’s defenses against Dominion Voting Systems, which said the network defamed it by airing bogus charges of election fraud that it knew was untrue.
Fox Corp. announced Tuesday that it had lost $50 million the previous three months, which it attributed to the lawsuit settlement. Murdoch, who answered questions from financial analysts, was speaking in public for the first time since the case ended and Fox fired its most popular anchor, Tucker Carlson.
Related coverage
– Fox Corp. dinged by Dominion settlement in third quarter
https://apnews.com/article/fox-dominion-loss-trump-biden-earnings-6be795be2f791e604401d5e48fc28aa4
– Since his ouster, embarrassing reports on Carlson pile up
https://apnews.com/article/tucker-carlson-fox-news-dominion-racist-text-0ca0ef08799f3d99d88ea953e9dd7dac
Murdoch said viewers, and investors, should expect no change in direction from Fox News.
“We made the business decision to resolve this dispute and avoid the acrimony of a divisive trial and multi-year appeal process, a decision clearly in the best interests of the company and its shareholders,” he said.
Fox still believes it was properly exercising its First Amendment rights to report on newsworthy fraud allegations made by former President Donald Trump, even though that defense was shot down in a pre-trial court ruling .. https://apnews.com/article/fox-news-dominion-trump-election-lies-voting-42cae434c4cfadbbafe73d1f2bca8e4d .. in the Dominion case, Murdoch said.
That’s important, since Murdoch said Fox intends to use the same defense against a similar lawsuit by another elections technology company, Smartmatic. That case is not expected to go to trial until at least 2025, he said.
Despite being asked directly about Carlson’s exit, Murdoch didn’t mention the former prime-time host’s name and referred to his reign obliquely. Fox has not explained why it cut ties with Carlson.
“There’s no change in programming strategy at Fox News,” he said. “It’s obviously a successful strategy. As always, we are adjusting our programming and our lineup and that’s what we continue to do.”
VIDEO
Although hurt by the Carlson exit, Fox News remains the leading cable news network.
Fox has lost viewers following Carlson’s firing. Last week’s substitute host, Lawrence Jones, reached between 1.28 million and 1.7 million last week in a time slot where Carlson usually drew around 3 million, the Nielsen company said.
Yet Fox has gained more than 40 new advertisers in that hour, the network said, confirming a report in Variety. Advertisers like Gillette, Scott’s Miracle Gro and Secret deodorant that had considered Carlson’s show a toxic environment have signed on.
https://apnews.com/article/fox-news-carlson-lawsuit-lachlan-murdoch-4a36400a9b25cfa78de71c0e093e395e
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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