Ed PimentoApr 18, 2023
Charles Herold

@Teri_Kanefield People are so upset they settled, but I'm unclear on what they think would have happened otherwise. There might have been more juicy revelations, but there were already plenty. Fox is buying a pretty hefty price and has been humiliated. And if they thought Dominion was going to run Fox News out of business, that would be wishful thinking.

So (not rhetorically) why is there so much crying right now?

Apr 18, 2023 at 9:15pmWeb
Show threadPusher Of Pixels (old account)Apr 18, 2023

@cherold @Teri_Kanefield my take is that this was as good a case for defamation as has ever been seen at this level.

If this isnt enough to go to trial and *crush* them, it emboldens future violators as it won't ever be this bad for them.

I haven't seen whether FOX admitted guilt in the settlement. Likewise many many of these are simple pay offs to *avoid* admitting guilt. If after all we know FOX isn't *required* to admit guilt, just wtf matters anymore is the thought process.

Show threadCharles HeroldApr 18, 2023

@pixelpusher220 Yes, I'm sure losing what is probably a billion dollars if you include their legal fees and being globally humiliated is totally going to embolden them. 😒
The right, including Fox, has proven itself willing to spend billions to spread misinformation. I don't see how they can be any bolder than they are. And I don't see how losing in court would make them change course.

@Teri_Kanefield

Show threadYaktuaryApr 18, 2023
@pixelpusher220 @cherold @Teri_Kanefield No, this doesn't embolden anyone. They paying 3/4 of a BILLION dollars. No one is emboldened by seeing that.
Show threadPusher Of Pixels (old account)Apr 18, 2023

@yaktuary @cherold @Teri_Kanefield

Perhaps it's relative. Paying 3/4 of billion is *less* punishment than 1.6 billion and a guilty verdict.

Again, if not this case, what exactly would be *enough* to get a conviction. Obviously unknowable, but it's a real feeling of the bad guys avoiding the full just punishment they deserve.

Show threadCharles HeroldApr 18, 2023

@pixelpusher220 But all a guilty verdict means is they pay more money. It's not like if they're found guilty they go to jail, or go out of business. It just costs them more. And they're paying all that money so whether they officially admit to guilt, everyone knows they are settling because they have no chance of winning because they're so clearly guilty.

@yaktuary @Teri_Kanefield

Show threadYaktuaryApr 18, 2023

@pixelpusher220 @cherold @Teri_Kanefield I don't think 750 million vs 1.6 billion is a meaningful difference for fox. Both figures fall under "painful but not fatal" category.

And a guilty verdict means nothing to anyone (doesn't change anyone's mind)

Show threadCharles HeroldApr 18, 2023
@yaktuary
EXACTLY!
@pixelpusher220 @Teri_Kanefield
Show threadPusher Of Pixels (old account)Apr 18, 2023

@yaktuary @cherold @Teri_Kanefield

"Guilty verdicts means nothing to anyone" just wow.

buhbye

Show threadYaktuaryApr 18, 2023

@pixelpusher220 @cherold @Teri_Kanefield What does it mean? To whom? Be specific.

It means nothing to their viewers. And it means nothing to you and me, since we already know what fox is.

Show threadCharles HeroldApr 18, 2023
@pixelpusher220
You seem to be assuming that the settlement is an indication they wouldn't have been "convicted" (which I don't think is the right term in a civil suit). This is an indication that Dominion thought the effort and risk of two birds in the bush was this particular bird in the hand. It's not like a DA doing a plea bargain.
@yaktuary @Teri_Kanefield
Show threadZigZagginApr 19, 2023
@pixelpusher220 @cherold @Teri_Kanefield What would crushing them have looked like? Even if they won they may not have received the settlement they asked for. What if the court decided the damage, even if proven, wasn't worth 1.6 billion? What if they had decided it was much less than 787 million? Some commentators definitely thought so. Would a trial win with a 100 million judgment been "crushing"?
Show threadCharles HeroldApr 19, 2023
@zigzaggin
It's like people forget all the previous times something was going to happen that was finally gonna put the right in its place. They think about what wonders could happen without considering that it might have all fizzled out in the worst possible way. HAS EVERYONE FORGOTTEN MUELLER?
@pixelpusher220 @Teri_Kanefield
Show threadJane ShullApr 18, 2023
@cherold @Teri_Kanefield The interesting point to me was the teaser by the Dominion CEO that there is more accountability to be had. And, if I’m not mistaken, I think he referred to individuals. There is more to come. Hannity? Bartaromo? Et al.?
Show threadCharles HeroldApr 18, 2023
@MonarchNursery I think Dominion filed other lawsuits, I think OAN and Sydney Powell and maybe others. So they may just be talking about those. @Teri_Kanefield
Show threadarceuthobiumApr 19, 2023
@cherold @MonarchNursery @Teri_Kanefield OAN is lawsuit proof, they’ll just go out of business and reopen under another name without paying a cent.
Show threadAlbatrossityApr 18, 2023
@cherold @Teri_Kanefield Yes, humilation has happened. But to have their venality exposed daily for 5-6 weeks, and to see all the evidence (remember, some of their filings had lots of redactions that would be unredacted in the courtroom) would have been more humiliating. And as far as I am concerned, even that much humiliation and more money would not be enough to cover the damages they have done to this country.
Show threadLyndeeApr 18, 2023

@cherold @Teri_Kanefield

Because they will keep on lying and duping and sowing hate.

Show threadYaktuaryApr 18, 2023
@cherold @Teri_Kanefield Because a lot of my fellow libs had unrealistic expectations that this would somehow fatally wound Fox.
Show threadTyler VuApr 18, 2023

@cherold @Teri_Kanefield

People believe Dominion would have won and the jury would awarded Dominion an amount more than or close to the settlement amount in damages.
And there would be the side (and more significant) benefit of the public airing of Fox’s lies.

Show threadNick ManosApr 18, 2023

@cherold @Teri_Kanefield Fox's behavior makes it pretty clear that there was plenty more embarrassment to be had at a trial.

But it's also that we didn't get a verdict, backed by a mountain of evidence, that Fox lied to its viewers deliberately and maliciously. Not a press release "acknowledging" that a judge said that "certain claims were false." There's no guarantees of course, but you don't pay $800 million if you think you're going to win at a trial.

Show threadCharles HeroldApr 18, 2023
@manos47
Fox probably couldn't win at trial, but the settlement could also just mean they wanted to staunch the flow of embarrassing information.
@Teri_Kanefield
Show threadNick ManosApr 18, 2023
@cherold @Teri_Kanefield This is true. But I think the country would've been better off seeing $800 million worth of embarrassing information about Fox.
Show threadMcNullaApr 18, 2023
@cherold @Teri_Kanefield
I’d like to think that I’d require admitting to wrong doing in public (in which I approve the wording) as part of the bargain, but I’m not in that situation. Still, seems pretty important.
Show threadTammy GentzelApr 18, 2023
@cherold @Teri_Kanefield What are the chances people who had their lives ruined because they believed the lies could sue for compensation?
Show threadAethelstanApr 18, 2023
@cherold @Teri_Kanefield it is not Dominion’s job to clean up politics. Their job is to be profitable. It is our collective duty to clean up politics.
Show threadSterling Hammer Apr 18, 2023
@cherold @Teri_Kanefield just makes it easier for them to spin it and brush it under the rug. That's why I'm disappointed personally. Hopefully something more comes of this than the monetary settlement.
Show threadSterling Hammer Apr 18, 2023
@cherold @Teri_Kanefield I totally understand this is an admission of guilt though! So its a win, its the court of public opinion I'm referring to. A drawn out trial means more attention, a settlement means it disappears much quicker from public view.
Show threadCharles HeroldApr 18, 2023

@cdlhamma
I agree that it would have been more satisfying to drag them through the whole thing, but I'm not convinced that this is the make-or-break situation people take it for.

Also, while I don't know how likely it is, Fox could have won. Everyone's ignoring that, because it seems unlikely, but the wrong people win all the time. And if Fox had won, it would have been truly horrible and they would have gone on and on about how the deep state failed to take them down.

@Teri_Kanefield

Show threadSterling Hammer Apr 18, 2023
@cherold @Teri_Kanefield Yeah I don't think it make-or-break at all. And agreed, that is definitely a risk.
Show threadflopperdogApr 19, 2023

@cherold @Teri_Kanefield Personally? I wanted to see Rupert Murdoch on the stand. I wanted this to get a lot more coverage, which an actual jury trial would have -- it's not clear to me how many people who are not terminally online or very political are even aware of the judgment in Dominion's favor.

And yes, if they were going to settle, I would have liked them to force an admission of wrongdoing. I know that wasn't part of the initial claim, but Dominion had such a strong hand here; I have to assume Murdoch just kept writing down bigger numbers until they concluded they didn't need Fox to admit they lied knowingly. Which is their right as the plaintiff.... *sigh*