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☆ Disinformation researcher who led now-defunct DHS unit sues Fox News for defamation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The researcher, Nina Jankowicz, briefly served in the Biden administration as head of the now-defunct Disinformation Governance Board, which was housed in the Department of Homeland Security. The lawsuit is the latest in a series of high-profile defamation cases brought against Fox News in recent years. The network last month settled a lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million, the largest publicly known settlement in US history. Smartmatic’s case survived a motion to dismiss filed by Fox News last year and continues to move through the court system. Lachlan Murdoch, the chief executive of Fox Corporation, the parent company of the right-wing channel Fox News, said on Tuesday that the company will fight Smartmatic’s lawsuit.

☆ Tucker Carlson announces plans to relaunch his show on Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —Right-wing extremist Tucker Carlson announced Tuesday that he will relaunch his program on Twitter, which he praised as the only remaining large free-speech platform in the world after Fox News fired him late last month. Carlson made the announcement in a video posted to the social media website, which Elon Musk acquired last year. Twitter has devolved in recent months into a chaotic platform where the traditional press has come under assault from the billionaire. He did not mention Musk has censored speech on Twitter, including banning several prominent reporters from the website just last year. Although Carlson did not directly address his abrupt firing from Fox News in the video, he strongly alluded to it.

Last year the former leader of Yoon’s party hit out at what he said was the “evil influence” YouTube channels. “After President Yoon Suk Yeol came to power, there have been many cases where the presidential office filed complaints to the media,” Jung said. It has since consistently ranked top in terms of real-time daily viewership on YouTube in South Korea. To Professor Jung, it’s a success that demonstrates “voices cannot be silenced.”Kim, meanwhile, hopes to build a show with as much recognition as any on traditional media. “I will create a type of press that has not yet existed on YouTube,” Kim said.

☆ Fox News’ sudden firing of Tucker Carlson may have come down to one simple calculation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

In the hours following Carlson’s abrupt dismissal from the right-wing channel, a number of explanations have emerged — all with plausibility. One veteran television news executive told me that they believed the decision came down to a straightforward calculation by the Murdochs: Risk versus reward. It is pretty much enshrined as a law of physics in the universe of right-wing media that whoever the Murdochs put in prime time will rate. All that said, Carlson will test the hypothesis that Fox News as a brand trumps any single personality. Carlson is a force unlike any other in right-wing media and politics.

☆ Fox News is about to enter the true No Spin Zone
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Good progress was made and the presiding judge noted that there were “more than enough jurors” to start the trial as scheduled on Monday. I’ve watched thousands and thousands of hours of the right-wing channel’s programming. Fox News is about to enter the true No Spin Zone, where deception is strictly prohibited. The case hasn’t even started and the presiding judge has already lost his patience with Fox’s legal team and put them on notice. But if they play out like the last few weeks of court have, Fox News is in for a brutal ride.

New York CNN —Dominion Voting Systems’ historic defamation case against Fox News will proceed to a high-stakes jury trial next month, a Delaware judge ruled Friday, declining to declare a pretrial winner. But in his Friday ruling, Davis said that the evidence Dominion presented shows Fox News aired falsehoods about the company. “The evidence developed in this civil proceeding demonstrates that is CRYSTAL clear that none of the Statements relating to Dominion about the 2020 election are true,” Davis wrote. The on-air statements, from various Fox News hosts after the 2020 election, had accused Dominion of rigging the election by flipping millions of votes from Donald Trump to Joe Biden. Incriminating texts and emails have shown how Fox executives, hosts and producers didn’t believe the claims the network was peddling about Dominion.

CNN —Fox News swiftly banned then-President Donald Trump’s election-denying lawyers from appearing on the right-wing channel in December 2020 after being threatened with a defamation suit, a text message made public on Friday revealed. The message was made public as part of Dominion Voting Systems’ ongoing $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News. Grossberg’s text message was dated December 14, 2020. A Fox News spokesperson did not comment specifically on the exchange between Grossberg and Bartiromo indicating the network had banned Trump’s legal team from its air. Grossberg last week filed two lawsuits against Fox News accusing the network of coercing her into providing misleading testimony in the Dominion case.

Fox News, however, did suggest it wants to put Scott, Wallace, Hannity, Carlson, Bartiromo, and Baier on the stand as witnesses. But in past court filings, Fox News has highlighted the fact that Baier said on-air shortly after the 2020 election that there weren’t indications of widespread fraud. Both Fox News and Dominion asked Davis in court this week to declare them the outright winner without a trial. Fox News has argued that it can’t be held liable for airing inherently newsworthy allegations from public figures that Dominion rigged the 2020 election, even if those claims were false. Fox Corporation has argued that Dominion overstated its role in Fox News’ editorial coverage of the 2020 election and asked to be dropped from the lawsuit – but the judge let the case move forward.

☆ DirecTV and Newsmax end ugly dispute as the satellite carrier strikes deal to resume broadcasting the right-wing channel
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —DirecTV said Wednesday that it has reached a multi-year distribution agreement with Newsmax, putting to end a bitter carriage dispute that waded into political waters and saw the right-wing channel and satellite carrier savage one another in public. “This resolution with Newsmax, resolving an all-too-common carriage dispute, underscores our dedication to delivering a wide array of programming and perspectives to our customers,” said Bill Morrow, chief executive of DirecTV. Newsmax advanced a wholly different narrative, accusing DirecTV of working to censor conservative voices, even though the carrier offers right-wing talk channels such as Fox News and The First on its lineup. DirecTV said that it found such behavior “troubling,” calling out Newsmax for promoting “inaccurate and misleading information” about the dispute as the outlet published an endless stream of content targeting the satellite carrier. GOP Rep. Byron Donalds, a House Oversight Committee member, told Newsmax last month that Republicans were “definitely looking into” holding a hearing.

☆ Fox bosses ‘shut down’ fact checking with 2020 conspiracies, Dominion lawyer says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Marshall Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Dominion is suing Fox News over the right-wing channel’s airing of false claims of election fraud around the 2020 presidential election. Fox News argued that Dominion should instead rely on the “lengthy depositions” that these witnesses already gave. It claims Dominion hasn’t shown anything strong enough to overcome the high bar that the First Amendment provides, protecting good-faith journalists from speech-chilling defamation lawsuits. Dominion lawyer Rodney Smolla said its high-stakes defamation case against Fox News will protect the public discourse and hold accountable people who deliberately lied about the 2020 election. “They endorsed,” Murdoch said, referring to Fox hosts Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro, Maria Bartiromo, and former host Lou Dobbs.

☆ Tucker Carlson ‘passionately’ hates Trump, and eight more key revelations about Fox News from new Dominion filings
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The filings expose the face of the network, Tucker Carlson, as a fraud. They show that Rupert Murdoch rejected conspiracy theories about Dominion, despite allowing them to be promoted on his network. But here are some immediate takeaways:► Carlson “passionately” hates Trump: In a number of private text messages, Carlson was harshly critical of Trump. I truly can’t wait.” Carlson added of Trump, “I hate him passionately.” The Fox host said of the Trump presidency, “That’s the last four years. There isn’t really an upside to Trump.”► Murdoch rejected conspiracies: In his January deposition, Murdoch was repeatedly asked about various electronic voting conspiracy theories — and he rejected all of them.

☆ Fox News and Dominion spar in new legal filings
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Most legal experts expect that the case will ultimately proceed to trial before a jury in mid-April. Dominion asked the judge to decide the case in their favor because, in their view, Fox has already conceded that its on-air statements about Dominion rigging the 2020 election were false. “Fox has produced no evidence — none, zero — supporting those lies,” Dominion said. Discovery into Fox has proven that from the top of the organization to the bottom, Fox always knew the absurdity of the Dominion ‘stolen election’ story.”“Fox seeks a First Amendment license to knowingly spread lies,” Dominion added, rejecting Fox’s argument that the election-rigging allegations were “newsworthy” and thus protected under the First Amendment. The company continued, “if Fox cared about the truth that it now acknowledges, Fox would have its top personalities reporting that truth to its audience.

The hundreds of pages of new documents include previously unreleased excerpts from key depositions, including Fox Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch, and are part of Dominion’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News. The transcript was part of a trove of text messages, emails, and other material from Fox News executives and on-air personalities that were made public Tuesday as part of Dominion’s $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against the right-wing channel. “Do you believe that Dominion was engaged in a massive and coordinated effort to steal the 2020 presidential election?” Murdoch was asked by Dominion lawyers. The hundreds of pages of new documents that came out Tuesday include previously unreleased excerpts from key depositions, including Murdoch, and are part of Dominion’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News. Fox News has not only vigorously denied the claims, it has insisted it is “proud” of its 2020 election coverage.

☆ Rupert Murdoch acknowledged that Fox News hosts endorsed false stolen election claims
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of Fox Corporation, acknowledged in a deposition taken by Dominion Voting Systems that some Fox News hosts endorsed false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. Murdoch’s remarks were made public in a legal filing as part of Dominion’s $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News. In his deposition, Murdoch rejected that the right-wing talk network as an entity endorsed former President Donald Trump’s election lies. “Some of our commentators were endorsing it,,” Murdoch said, according to the filing, when asked about the talk hosts’ on-air positions about the election. Top legal experts told CNN after last week’s filing that Dominion’s legal position appeared strong.

☆ Fox News stars and executives privately trashed Trump’s election fraud claims, court document reveal
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —The most prominent stars and highest-ranking executives at Fox News privately ridiculed claims of election fraud in the 2020 election despite the right-wing channel allowing lies about the presidential contest to be promoted on its air, damning messages contained in a Thursday court filing revealed. In one set of messages revealed in the court filing, Carlson texted Ingraham, saying that Sidney Powell, an attorney who was representing the Trump campaign, was “lying” and that he had “caught her” doing so. Ingraham responded, “Sidney is a complete nut. Ditto with Rudy [Giuliani].”The messages also revealed that Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of Fox Corporation, did not believe Trump’s election lies and even floated the idea of having Carlson, Hannity, and Ingraham appear together in prime time to declare Joe Biden as the rightful winner of the election. In a statement, Fox News argued that the Thursday court filing contained cherry-picked quotes lacking context.

CNN —A last-ditch effort to salvage a Fox interview with President Joe Biden before the Super Bowl has fallen through. Biden is not expected to participate in the annual presidential Super Bowl interview with Fox, the network airing the game this year. The Biden administration attempted a workaround that avoided a sit-down with Fox News, with which the White House has a contentious relationship. Fox has canceled the interview, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a tweet Friday. Despite some discussion early on about an interview, the White House never committed to granting a sit-down to Fox News.

☆ Biden hasn’t committed to Super Bowl interview with Fox, source says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

This year, Fox is airing the Super Bowl, which would mean that Fox News would be in line for an interview. Typically, such interviews are conducted on the Friday before the Super Bowl and are agreed to much further in advance so that logistics can be coordinated. Biden has not granted Fox News a single interview during his presidency, despite the network repeatedly asking. If Biden were to do an interview with Fox News ahead of the Super Bowl, it would almost certainly be with Bret Baier, who is a much more respected, traditional news anchor, albeit one that leans conservative. A White House spokesperson declined to comment when asked if Biden will sit down with the right-wing network ahead of the big game.

☆ DirectTV’s move to drop right-wing channel has Conservatives crying foul
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

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☆ Republicans are lashing out at DirecTV for supposedly ‘censoring’ conservative voices. Here’s what’s really going on
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Several Republican senators unleashed on the satellite carrier Wednesday over its move to drop the right-wing channel Newsmax from its lineup, adding to mounting pressure DirecTV has faced over the matter. The senators suggested DirecTV’s move was all part of a nefarious plot to “censor” conservative viewpoints. DirecTV also balked at paying for the same content that streams to users for free on other platforms, such as Roku. But the right-wing channel, led by Chris Ruddy, who is well-connected in GOP circles, has sought to leverage its political power to pressure DirecTV into paying up. Last week, it added to its lineup the right-wing channel The First, which features hosts such as Bill O’Reilly, Dana Loesch, Liz Wheeler, and Jesse Kelly.

☆ DirecTV Adding Conservative Channel The First After Dropping Newsmax
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Kathryn Hardison | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Bill O’Reilly’s show ‘No Spin News’ is one of the programs on The First television network. DirecTV will add The First, a conservative opinion and commentary network, to its lineup after recently dropping right-wing channel Newsmax. The satellite service said Thursday that The First will soon be available to its DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-Verse customers at no additional cost through a multiyear agreement. The new channel, which features programs such as “No Spin News” with Bill O’Reilly, will also be available on its DirecTV TV Everywhere websites and apps.

☆ News outlets ask judge to unseal documents in Dominion’s defamation case against Fox News
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —The New York Times and NPR asked a judge on Wednesday to unseal a trove of documents in Dominion Voting Systems $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against right-wing channel Fox News. “This lawsuit is unquestionably a consequential defamation case that tests the scope of the First Amendment,” the pair of news organizations said in the filing. Spokespersons for Dominion and Fox News did not immediately provide a comment on the outlets’ request to the judge. “That is especially important in a case that touches upon political issues that have deeply divided the country.”As the lawsuit has progressed in the judicial system, a deluge of legal documents have been withheld from public view. The case is expected to go to trial later this year unless a settlement is reached.

☆ Rupert Murdoch abandons plan to recombine Fox and News Corp
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

New York CNN —Rupert Murdoch has abandoned plans to combine Fox Corporation and News Corporation, a move that would have reunited his broadcasting and print publishing companies under one roof. Murdoch had proposed the deal last fall, nearly a decade after Fox Corporation and News Corporation split apart in 2013. Fox Corporation operates the right-wing channel Fox News, in addition to Fox Sports and Fox TV Stations. News Corporation is the parent of The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, HarperCollins, and other iconic print publications. Spokespeople for both companies did not immediately respond when asked whether Murdoch had a comment

☆ How a maverick Brazil lawmaker helped Lula beat Bolsonaro's propaganda machine
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Gabriel Stargardter | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 10 (Reuters) - To bring down far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Andre Janones had to fight fire with fire. Janones also raised eyebrows among some in Lula's Workers Party (PT) for his vulgar attacks on Bolsonaro and his allies. One senior Lula aide defended the role of Janones, saying he could tread where the official campaign did not dare. He was the most prominent Lula ally to drop the gloves in a bruising run-off race that took even Bolsonaro's campaign by surprise. Despite his hell-raising, Janones has not lost sight of digital media as a public service.

☆ CNBC axes Shepard Smith’s news program amid broader ‘strategic realignment’
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN Business —Shepard Smith will exit CNBC later this year after the business-focused news network announced on Thursday that it will cancel his show as it undergoes a “strategic realignment” under new leadership. Sullivan indicated to employees that he wanted to invest more resources in financial news and said that Smith’s show will be replaced in early 2023 with a business-focused program. Sullivan acknowledged, however, that the “strategic realignment” will result in “some difficult decisions.”“Change is difficult, particularly when talented, good people are impacted,” he wrote. Sullivan said CNBC “will work across the News Group to identify other potential opportunities” for them. Smith was hired by Hoffman after leaving the right-wing channel Fox News over disagreements with its editorial decisions in recent years.

☆ Newsmax bans Lara Logan after QAnon-style rant, condemns her words in ‘the strongest terms’
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

New York CNN Business —The right-wing channel Newsmax has banned Lara Logan from its air after she went on a QAnon-style rant during an appearance on the network this week. “Newsmax condemns in the strongest terms the reprehensible statements made by Lara Logan and her views do not reflect our network,” a network spokesperson said. “We have no plans to interview her again.”Logan did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment. After her departure from CBS, Logan became a regular fixture on Fox News’ right-wing talk programs. Logan said earlier this year that she was “dumped” by Fox News.

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