The news surrounding Fox News’ last-minute settlement with Dominion Voting Systems this week may have disappointed many—with particular outrage reserved for the fact that the network wasn’t required to publicly address or apologize for its repeated promotion of election misinformation.
On this week’s episode of The New Abnormal, hosts Andy Levy and Danielle Moodie mourn the trial of Fox News that never was—and lament the fact that despite the record payout, Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch still retains his billionaire status.
“If you were still a billionaire after the settlement, you won. And that’s Rupert Murdoch,” Levy says.
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“I’m not mad at Dominion. They did what was best for their business. That’s their job. They’re not there to save America, unfortunately. I’m not mad at them. I’m disappointed that this didn’t go to trial. And I do think Dominion is kind of fooling itself when it says things like money is accountability,” Levy adds. “This will change very little to nothing. And it’s certainly not going to give them pause about lying.”
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Then, NPR media reporter David Folkenflik joins Levy to discuss the Dominion settlement, adding that while the payout is the largest single settlement the Murdochs have ever agreed to, and the largest defamation payment ever made by a media company in the United States, the statement Fox made after the fact “is about the stingiest most austere statement of wrongdoing you could imagine.
“To me, I don’t think this is a fully satisfying resolution for people who want to see Fox held accountable. And I think you can argue whether or not this represents accountability, but because the figure is so large and because the figure was instantly disclosed as opposed to buried in a footnote in some financial filing that we find out about later, that acknowledgement of a huge public payment is the accountability.”
Plus! Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts joins host Danielle Moodie to talk about the latest harrowing shootings that have occurred this week, including the 16-year-old teen who was shot in the face after ringing the wrong doorbell.
Listen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher.
