Fox News media reporter Howard Kurtz has broken his and the network’s silence on the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit against the channel, with Kurtz saying the case is a test of the First Amendment.
“I’m not sugarcoating the allegations in this $1.6 billion suit,” Kurtz said during his Media Buzz program Sunday. “Or the fact that Fox has taken a hit in the court of public opinion.”
Kurtz’s comments are in a similar vein to those made by a Fox News spokesperson to Barrett News Media, saying “Dominion has been caught red-handed using more distortions and misinformation in their PR campaign to smear Fox News and trample on free speech and freedom of the press. We already know they will say and do anything to try to win this case, but to twist and even misattribute quotes to the highest levels of our company is truly beyond the pale.”
Kurtz continued by saying that Fox News has a “crucial” First Amendment defense, adding that the interview offer from Maria Bartiromo to Dominion’s CEO that went unaccepted proves the network was open to sharing the truth.
“There was, to be sure, straight reporting by the news division which also caused some friction,” Kurtz said. “But the fact that some people in the chain of command privately dismissed the fraud claims as ‘nuts’, or ‘outlandish’, or ‘insane’ doesn’t necessarily mean Fox couldn’t cover and comment on the extremely newsworthy spectacle of the president saying the election was stolen. That’s why the case is a major test of the first amendment.”
The comments from Kurtz come after he had previously stated that Fox News asked him not to discuss the lawsuit, which he said “I strongly disagree with that decision, but as an employee, I have to abide by it.”
