What to expect in the Dominion v. Fox defamation trial
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[April 17, 2023]
By Jack Queen
(Reuters) - One of the most closely watched U.S. media trials in decades
kicks off in a Delaware court on Monday as Fox Corp and Fox News face a
$1.6 billion defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems over the
network's coverage of false claims that the ballot-counter company
rigged the 2020 presidential election.
Here is an explanation of the case.
WHAT IS DOMINION CLAIMING?
Dominion in its lawsuit accused Fox of destroying its reputation and
business by repeatedly airing false claims that its voting machines were
used to rig the election against Republican then-President Donald Trump
in favor of the winner, Democrat Joe Biden.
Dominion has said Fox knew the claims were false but continued
broadcasting them to appeal to its largely conservative audience and
keep viewers from defecting to right-wing media competitors that
embraced the conspiracy theory.
The Denver-based company cited numerous internal Fox communications and
deposition testimony that it has said proved that Fox personnel - show
producers and hosts all the way up to the top executives - knew that
guests who appeared on various programs and repeatedly made the false
claims on air did not have evidence to back up their allegations.
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WHAT IS FOX'S DEFENSE?
Fox has said Dominion cannot prove that the network knowingly spread
falsehoods or recklessly disregarded the truth, the legal standard of
"actual malice" that plaintiffs in defamation lawsuits must meet.
Fox has argued that Dominion cherry-picked evidence to mischaracterize
the network's coverage decisions, which it said were reasonable because
election-rigging claims by the president's lawyers were inherently
newsworthy. Fox has said it also gave Dominion's side of the story by
airing its denials.
The network was dealt a setback in March, when Delaware Superior Court
Judge Eric Davis ruled that Fox could not invoke free speech defenses
because the statements it aired were false, defamatory and not covered
by legal protections for the press under the U.S. Constitution's First
Amendment. Fox is now largely limited to arguing that Dominion cannot
prove actual malice.
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A person walks by Fox News signage
posted on the News Corporation building in New York City, U.S. April
12, 2023 REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
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COULD THE TWO SIDES STILL SETTLE?
Possibly, but experts think that is unlikely because the two sides
have litigated the case fiercely for two years and framed it as more
than a simple business dispute.
Dominion has argued that Fox's conduct was damaging to American
democracy and that the network must be held accountable for crossing
the line between journalism and the heedless pursuit of ratings. Fox
has called Dominion's lawsuit an assault on the free press and
framed its stance in the case as a defense of journalism and
diversity of ideas in the public square.
WHAT ABOUT DAMAGES?
Fox has attacked the credibility of Dominion's damages estimate,
saying it is based upon unrealistic growth projections and faulty
assumptions. The network has said Dominion was worth only $80
million in 2018 and has continued to grow and post strong revenues
despite the untrue claims of election-rigging.
Dominion has defended its damages model, which it has said was based
on industry standard accounting methods. An expert report
commissioned by the company attributed scores of lost contracts to
Fox's coverage, though much of the report remains under seal. More
of those details are likely to come out when Dominion's expert
testifies.
(Reporting by Jack Queen; Editing by Will Dunham and Noeleen Walder)
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