Category: Media in America

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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.

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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:

 

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Capitol Insurrection January 6 Media in America WTF?!

Fox News Is Now Referring To The Jan. 6 Insurrection As An ‘Election Justice Protest’

If you’ve read George Orwell’s novel, 1984, then you know one of the most important ways the totalitarian government of Big Brother keeps control over the people is with the use of language, especially as that language relates to the news and information people are shown.

Orwell called the manipulation of language for the purpose of tyranny “Newspeak,” and he explained in an appendix to the novel:

The purpose of Newspeak was not only to provide a medium of expression for the world-view and mental habits proper to the devotees of Ingsoc, but to make all other modes of thought impossible.

Open Culture elaborates on that idea:

Newspeak isn’t just a set of buzzwords, but the deliberate replacement of one set of words in the language for another.

There are examples of newspeak throughout the novel, most notably in the phrase, “War is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength.”

Such a twisting of the language is essential for creating a “reality” that is pleasing to the overlords who control everything that’s seen and heard in Orwell’s new world.

Newspeak is taking place in the United States right now, most notably at Fox News, where the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection is being rebranded by Fox host Tucker Carlson as an “election justice protest,” Media Matters reports, and Carlson added:

“So again, that’s the sitting vice president who they tell us over and over, and you just heard her say it, received more votes than any vice president in history. And if you don’t believe that ― and there are reasons not to believe that ― if you don’t believe that, you’re like [Sept. 11 hijacker] Mohamed Atta. Your beliefs are acts of terror, you’re comparable to a mass murderer and you need to be pursued by law enforcement.”

Rioting and insurrection are now being fed to the Fox masses as an “election justice protest.” The truth is too real, so it must be bent to serve another narrative, one that papers over the murder committed on Jan. 6 and turns it into a protest for justice.

Newspeak is not just a matter of fiction. It’s among us, and it’s a very real threat to this republic.

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Donald Trump Fox News Media in America

Trump Slams Fox For ‘Pushing The Democrat Agenda’ – Offers to Help CNN Go ‘Conservative’

After attacking CNN for years as purveyors of “fake news,” disgraced former president Donald Trump is now offering to help the network shift to being “conservative.”

At the same time, Trump is slamming Fox News for “pushing the Democrat agenda” and suggesting they are on the way out as a force in right-wing media.

Trump made those statements on his Truth Social (a.k.a. Twitter for losers) platform Sunday, with Newsweek reporting:

Trump hit out at Fox News in a Truth Social post on Sunday in the latest sign the former president’s opinion of the news channel—which he frequently watched and praised during his time in the White House—has soured slightly.

In the same social media post, Trump also suggested it would be an “absolute gold mine” if CNN became conservative amid reports the channel is aiming to become more politically neutral and less critical of the former president under new leader Chris Licht.

Here’s what the twice-impeached ex-president had to say about the two networks:

“Wow! Fox News is really pushing the Democrats and the Democrat agenda. Gets worse every single day. So many Dems interviewed with only softball questions, then Republican counterparts get creamed.”

“If ‘low ratings’ CNN ever went Conservative, they would be an absolute gold mine, and I would help them to do so.”

It has indeed appeared that CNN is taking a sudden turn to the right, with Sara Fischer of Axios reporting

In a memo to staff in May, Licht said he wants CNN to help regain the trust that many people have lost in media, by “fearlessly speaking truth to power, challenging the status quo, questioning ‘group-think,’ and educating viewers and readers with straightforward facts and insightful commentary, while always being respectful of differing viewpoints.

“People are freaked out,” said one CNN journalist. “It almost feels like there’s a pattern. Is there a purge going on? They seem to be sending a message: ‘Watch what you say. Watch what you do.’

However, before CNN decides to ink a pact with the devil (Trump), they’d be wise to consider that if Donald is now turning on his longtime ally Fox, he wouldn’t think twice about tossing CNN under the bus, too.

 

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Donald Trump January 6 Media in America

Murdoch-Owned Newspapers Destroy Trump With Scathing Op-Eds – Accuse Him Of ‘Incitement By Silence’

Both of the American newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation — The Wall Street Journal and New York Post — made it very clear in scathing op-eds that failed, one-term, twice-impeached former president Donald Trump has completely lost the support of the conservative media mogul and that Murdoch is ready for the Donald to disappear from the political scene as a result of his actions (and inaction) on January 6, 2021.

The Wall Street Journal used this headline for their editorial,  “The President Who Stood Still on Jan. 6,” writing:

“No matter your views of the Jan. 6 special committee, the facts it is laying out in hearings are sobering. The most horrifying to date came Thursday in a hearing on President Trump’s conduct as the riot raged and he sat watching TV, posting inflammatory tweets and refusing to send help.”

The Journal’s editorial board continued:

“The committee’s critics are right that it lacks political balance. Still, the brute facts remain: Mr. Trump took an oath to defend the Constitution, and he had a duty as Commander in Chief to protect the Capitol from a mob attacking it in his name. He refused. He didn’t call the military to send help. He didn’t call Mr. Pence to check on the safety of his loyal VP. Instead he fed the mob’s anger and let the riot play out.

“Character is revealed in a crisis, and Mr. Pence passed his Jan. 6 trial. Mr. Trump utterly failed his.”

The Post was equally critical of Trump:

“There has been much debate over whether Trump’s rally speech on Jan. 6, 2021, constituted ‘incitement.’ That’s somewhat of a red herring. What matters more — and has become crystal clear in recent days — is that Trump didn’t lift a finger to stop the violence that followed. And he was the only person who could stop what was happening. He was the only one the crowd was listening to. It was incitement by silence.”

Post editors wrote Trump’s political obituary by concluding:

“There is no other explanation, just as there is no defense, for his refusal to stop the violence. It’s up to the Justice Department to decide if this is a crime. But as a matter of principle, as a matter of character, Trump has proven himself unworthy to be this country’s chief executive again.”

The only reason Trump has any plans to run again is so he can forestall being prosecuted for his endless list of crimes. But it’s a long way to 2024, and we’ll know well before then whether or not he’s facing indictment and trial.

But for what it’s worth, Rupert Murdoch has clearly washed his hands of the Donald.