Month: March 2023

Categories
Elections Fox News Fox News Lies

Second, ‘More Dangerous’ Defamation Lawsuit Against Fox Given Green Light To Proceed

As Fox News faces daily revelations from the $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems, yet another defamation suit against has been given the go ahead by a court, and this one is considered to be even more dangerous than the Dominion case.

The Guardian reports on the second lawsuit, which has been filed by Smartmatic and is seeking $2.7 billion in damages.

Smartmatic claims that more than 100 false statements were broadcast by Fox News hosts and guests. Smartmatic was falsely said to have been involved in 2020 election counts in six battleground states – in fact, it was present only at the count in Los Angeles county.

Fox broadcast that Smartmatic shared its technology with Dominion, when in fact the two companies had no communication and regarded each other as rivals. Smartmatic was in cahoots with foreign governments in a conspiracy to rig the vote for Biden, Giuliani said on Bartiromo’s show – a claim that the company disputes as false and defamatory.

Fox also described Smartmatic as having been founded in Venezuela at the behest of corrupt dictators. In fact, it was founded by Antonio Mugica and Roger Piñate in 2000 in Boca Raton, Florida, in the wake of the “hanging chad” fiasco, with the aim of using technology to restore people’s faith in election results.

Fox suggested in a statement that the Smartmatic lawsuit cannot stand up to First Amendment scrutiny:

“Freedom of the press is foundational to our democracy and must be protected, in addition to the damages claims being outrageous, unsupported and not rooted in sound financial analysis, serving as nothing more than a flagrant attempt to deter our journalists from doing their jobs. There is nothing more newsworthy than covering the president of the US and his lawyers making allegations.”

But the one-two punch of Dominion and Smartmatic would seem to be Fox’s worst nightmare made reality, and the First Amendment doesn’t protect against blatant lies such as the ones Fox is accused of broadcasting.

Categories
Right Wing Morons Social Media

Right-Wingers Pitch A Social Media Hissy Fit After Michelle Yeoh Wins Best Actress Oscar

On Sunday evening at the Oscar Awards, Michelle Yeoh became the first Asian woman to ever win the award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, truly a historic achievement when you consider the Academy Awards began in 1929.

NPR reported Yeoh’s win with the following announcement:

That triggered conservatives in a BIG way, and they vented their anger on Twitter, succeeding only in proving their own bigotry and fear of nearly everything.

https://twitter.com/Curtains2023/status/1635190563283824640?s=20

https://twitter.com/clhntr/status/1635166456731275265?s=20

Categories
Fox News Fox News Lies Media in America

Here’s Why Fox’s Maria Bartiromo May Soon Be Broke And Unemployable

With Fox News facing the prospect of having to pay billions for lies their hosts told about the 2020 presidential election, one host in particular is on the verge of destroying the network’s already flimsy defense and also winding up being unemployable on any platform.

Maria Bartiromo is most often seen on Fox Business, but also does a Sunday program that appears on Fox News, “Sunday Morning Futures.”

The Los Angeles Times reports that testimony Bartiromo gave as part of the ongoing $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems is damning for Bartriromo and Fox.

Attorneys for Fox have repeatedly asserted that hosts such as Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, and Ingraham were merely offering their opinions on the 2020 election and never intended them to be statements of fact that require proof.

“In released court documents and deposition testimony connected to the case, Bartiromo is cited throughout for allowing former President Trump’s false claims about 2020 election fraud to air on the network in an effort to stop angry viewers from abandoning the network. Court testimony shows that in the days leading up to and following the 2020 election, colleagues and executives raised questions about Bartiromo’s online activity and expressed concerns that she was influenced by right-wing conspiracy theorists.”

Why is that a problem? Because Bartiromo herself said under oath that she’s a journalist who reports facts, not opinions.

“Bartiromo is one of four Fox News and Fox Business Network personalities cited in the suit along with Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro and Lou Dobbs, who is no longer part of the company. Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch admitted under oath that they all promoted false claims about the 2020 election, which he believed was fair.”

And therein lies the rub:

“The difference with Bartiromo is she identifies as a news anchor, as she indicated in her testimony. Hannity, Dobbs and Pirro are considered opinion hosts, and executives at Fox News testified that they are not held to the same journalistic standards as straight news programs.”

Even worse for Fox is that Bartiromo also testified “that no one in management did anything to stop her or force her to correct the record.”

“Bartiromo herself made misstatements, such as repeating inaccurate claims that Dominion was owned by voting software company Smartmatic, which is also suing Fox News and other conservative networks for defamation … several Fox News executives in their testimony concurred with Dominion’s assertions that Bartiromo did not challenge any of [Sidney] Powell’s false statements when she appeared on ‘Sunday Morning Futures.’ Bartiromo also admitted that she never presented any evidence to counter Powell’s claims, even though she was provided with correct information provided by Dominion and other Fox News journalists.”

Bartiromo had the facts and the pushback from Dominion, but she chose to believe bullshit conspiracy theories. How’s that for a “straight news” anchor?

Fox is going to lose the Dominion lawsuit. They will likely lose the one filed by Smartmatic, which is for $2.7 billion, too. Punitive damages in both of those suits would bankrupt Fox News. It would also all but guarantee that Maria Bartriomo never works in the media for as long as she walks the face of the planet.

Categories
Fox News Media in America

Dominion Lawsuit Likely To Result In ‘Financial Death Penalty’ For Fox News

If Dominion Voting Systems prevail in their $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News, it could result in a “financial death penalty” for the network, leaving it unable to survive due to a lack of operating capital, according to former prosecutor Katie Phang.

In a column she wrote for MSNBC, Phang notes that “Fox is now trapped in an ever-worsening spiral of lies of its own creation. Time and time again, Fox allegedly trafficked in lies and falsehoods.”

The court filing laying out text messages sent by Fox executives and on-air hosts released this week is especially damning, Phang continues:

“Dominion doesn’t just have the upper hand, it has the truth on its side. If Dominion is successful, then all that would be left to determine is the amount of damages that Dominion is entitled to receive. That’s where the numbers become astronomical. Dominion is seeking $1.6 billion in lost profits and reputational harm.”

And then there’s the possibility of punitive damages, which could result in billions more being awarded to Dominion, Phang explains.

“Punitive damages … are not capped under New York state law and could also be in the billions of dollars. Punitive damages are intended to punish the wrongdoer and to deter others from repeating that egregious conduct. And a multi-billion-dollar punitive damages verdict would not just punish Fox News. It would send a ringing message to all media companies to keep themselves in check and uphold the truth.”

Here’s more on the Dominion-Fox lawsuit from MSNBC:

 

Categories
Congress GOP Social Media WTF?!

‘Jewish Space Lasers’ Greene Thought She’d Wish Jews A Happy Purim – BIG Mistake

For some reason known only to her, Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene decided she’d send out Purim greetings to Jews via Twitter, but it didn’t take long before she likely realized that had been a really bad idea.

Here’s the tweet:

Purim, it should be noted, commemorates a story from the Biblical Book of Esther in which Queen Esther was able to thwart a plan that would have completely destroyed the Jews who were living in ancient Persia at the time. The holiday began Monday and ends this evening.

Greene would seem to be the last person who should wish anyone anything on any Jewish holiday. After all, she’s the same person who also:

  • Suggested that Jewish space lasers were to blame for wildfires in the United States
  • Appeared at a rally in 2022 with white nationalist Nick Fuentes, who has said the Holocaust didn’t occur
  • Has advocated that the Republican Party be the party of Christian nationalism

And now Greene wants to make nice with the Jewish community? People weren’t buying what she was selling, and they let her know what a putz she is.

https://twitter.com/davidmweissman/status/1633114812178653186?s=20

https://twitter.com/janedoe53230467/status/1632820502216724480?s=20