The costs finally outweighed the incentives
As astounding a figure that settlement amount in the defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems is, $787.5 million still comes up plenty short for all the egregious displays of journalistic malpractice Fox has broadcasted in its perverse take on voting fraud during the 2020 Election. A People vs Fox news lawsuit would certainly sink that ship for all the carnage it has wreaked on Democratic principals. Not only did Fox stoke and enflame divisiveness, it sowed the malice for which disunion and civil war became palpable in many instances.
Laden in that malice is incentive. Fox’s June 2022 quarter end revenue was $3.03 billion which was up 5% from $2.89 billion from the year prior, most of which derives from ad sales, which grew 7% from stronger pricing and higher rating at Fox News. But Fox has a penchant for settling lawsuits brought against their affiliate companies. For instance one of their enterprises, News America Marketing saw it settling $900 million in a single case ranging from fraud, sexual harassment, and political payoffs. Tucker Carlson’s ouster is just par for the course. Remember Bill O’Reilly’s termination? This is Rupert Murdoch’s modus operandi and the pattern is all too clear to see…like a fox indeed.
