Fox News is still dealing with the fallout from a $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems in the defamation lawsuit brought forth by the election machine company. The network’s media reporter, Howard Kurtz, believes it was hindered by negative coverage leading up to the trial and settlement.
“The overwhelming majority of media outlets were strongly against Fox, and therefore were aiding Dominion,” Kurtz claimed on his Media Buzz program Sunday.
He then argued against an insinuation from Dominion’s lawyers that claimed it could not make the network cover the situation, saying that “We couldn’t make Fox News report on the trial even if it happens”. Kurtz argued, “That is just false”.
“Should Fox have covered it more? Maybe. But everything gets compared to the endless anti-Fox coverage, led by the same anti-Fox hosts and guests elsewhere on cable news,” he added.
Kurtz then said he wasn’t defending the evidence that showed Fox News hosts and executives held differing beliefs in private than what aired on its network, saying ultimately the network was fighting for the First Amendment.
“It’s been embarrassing,” Kurtz said. “But Fox was also fighting for the First Amendment, which actually applies to liberal news outlets as well as right-leaning ones. In the end, both sides had incentives to settle…Fox wanted to avoid a parade of high-profile witnesses, and the judge had gutted most of its planned defenses. Dominion might have lost and gotten zero, in part because it had to prove Fox acted with actual malice, a very high bar for plaintiffs.”
Kurtz concluded by sharing that even though the time period has been damaging to the network, it still remains the highest-rated network on basic cable.
