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Fox News is an Addictive Drug [1]

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Date: 2023-04-23  

Fox News aired segments and hosted guests spreading lies claiming that voting equipment manufactured by Dominion Voting Systems had been hacked to rig the 2020 presidential election. This is an established fact, and led to a defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion. The revelations that management and key personnel knew these claims were fake, have led to a great deal of euphoria among our friends. Fox News’ $787.5 million settlement with Dominion certainly hurts Fox News, but not much. The big winner is Dominion, who have earned more money from this lawsuit than they are worth. As for Fox News, it avoided being found to have knowingly spread lies. However, while there is evidence that the company’s reputation has taken a hit, this will not be fatal. Its Republican audience is hooked on it, and this addiction will not go away.

Dominion’s lawsuit did have a real impact in terms of breaking through the Republican echo chamber. A poll conducted by Maru/Blue for Variety , revealed that 50% of Fox News viewers still believe that the 2020 election was stolen. However, 13% have stopped believing that the election was stolen, and 21% have lost some trust in the company. This is why Fix News settled. Rupert Murdoch had to stop the bleeding. From a legal perspective, it is highly unlikely that Dominion could have won the case, or, if they had won, that they would have gotten anywhere near what they got by settling. This is because, as a public entity, proving defamation is extremely difficult, and, in terms of damages, it would be hard to prove that they suffered the $1.6 billion in damages they were seeking. However, Dominion understood that by going on the offensive, they could not only repair damage to their reputation, the threat of further revelations would force Fox News to talk settlement.

Will this hurt Fox News where it matters: the bottom line? The answer is a resounding no. In a February Navigator poll , 39% of Republicans said that they very often came across misinformation, compared to 30% of all Americans. In fact, 23% of respondents whole main source of news was Fox, said that they frequently came across misinformation. This is higher than viewers of CNN or MSNBC. Republicans know that they are feeding off a feast of misinformation, they simply choose to continue to do so.

This reflects the fact that Fox News cannot really be hurt by revealing that it spreads lies. Its own viewers know this. They choose to keep watching because they are addicted to the comforting lies that the company spreads. There are benign lies, like children believing in Santa Claus, and they are toxic lies, like whatever is on Fox News. The fear is that enough Republicans believe what they are hearing, and act on it. From Jan. 6, to the shooting of a young boy for simply knocking on the wrong door, the lies that the company is spreading are corroding the fabric of the country’s institutions and our democracy.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/23/2165528/-Fox-News-is-an-Addictive-Drug

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