CNN
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Oh! That’s the matter.
The media defamation trial of the century is about to start in Wilmington, Delaware in just some days.
Jury choice in Dominion Voting Methods’ monster $1.6 billion defamation trial befell all through Thursday, with 300 potential jurors referred to as into court docket. Good progress was made and the presiding decide mentioned there have been “greater than sufficient jurors” to start the trial as scheduled on Monday.
It’s in Courtroom 7E the place Murdoch, accompanied by high-powered legal professionals and the most important media figures, will try and defend himself after repeatedly failing to steer a decide to throw the now-historic case.
A model of this text was first printed within the “Dependable Sources” e-newsletter. Join a every day digest chronicling the evolving media panorama right here.
Frankly, writing these phrases is extraordinary. After I watched Fox Information broadcast lies within the aftermath of the 2020 election, I by no means thought the community could be held accountable in a significant manner.
I’ve lined Fox Information for some time now. I’ve watched hundreds of hours of proper wing channel programming. I’ve watched its hosts through the years undermine public well being, make anti-immigrant remarks, unfold lies and propaganda and advance deranged conspiracy theories that had been as soon as reserved for the farthest of the suitable wing.
The community at all times appears to discover a manner out of controversy, even probably the most hellish storms it has confronted. Typically it has emerged stronger and extra fearless than earlier than.
However this time is totally different. This time, the same old techniques the community makes use of in occasions of disaster will not get him out of hassle. This time, in court docket, the community might want to current an trustworthy, fact-driven argument.
Fox Information is about to enter the True No Spin Zone, the place deception is totally banned. the place it’s not in cost. And the place its high executives like Rupert Murdoch and Susan Scott and hosts like Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity merely cannot ignore requests for remark and props, as a substitute attacking “the media” on-air.
On this setting, the place lies can’t be advised casually and reality can’t be distorted past actuality to suit a dishonest narrative, it will likely be attention-grabbing to see how the community fares. If the pre-trial listening to is any indicator, it will not finish effectively. The case hasn’t even began and the presiding decide has already misplaced endurance with Fox’s authorized staff and served them discover.
Maybe the winds will flip for Fox Information when the decide hears the lawsuit on Monday. But when they play their court docket just like the previous few weeks, Fox Information is in for a brutal trip.