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Category: Journalism

Dominion made Tucker Carlson’s firing a condition of settlement with Fox, according to board member

Dominion made Tucker Carlson’s firing a condition of settlement with Fox, according to board member

Variety reports: The mystery surrounding Tucker Carlson’s ouster from the airwaves at Fox News — and his future plans in media — are coming into sharper focus. On April 26, Carlson spoke by phone with one of Fox Corp.’s eight board members, who told the host that his recent benching was a condition of Fox News’ settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the conversation. The unnamed board member told Carlson that the condition does…

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Live television, for Trump, is both his weapon and his turf

Live television, for Trump, is both his weapon and his turf

Megan Garber writes: In the 1960s, when television was the revolutionary technology reshaping American life, the historian Daniel Boorstin published The Image, his seminal criticism of the media in the age of the screen. In it, Boorstin coined the term pseudo-event to describe the spectacle that exists merely to be documented: the press conference, the news release, the campaign rally. The coinage informs today’s idea of the media event: the thing that occurs primarily so that journalists can tell their…

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Trump supporters are neither underrecognized nor half the country

Trump supporters are neither underrecognized nor half the country

Philip Bump writes: The morning after the channel’s widely pilloried “town hall” with former president Donald Trump, CNN chairman and CEO Chris Licht defended the program in a call with staffers. “While we all may have been uncomfortable hearing people clapping, that was also an important part of the story,” Licht said, according to journalist Brian Stelter, adding that Trump’s supporters are “a large swath of America.” On his own show Thursday night, CNN host Anderson Cooper made a similar…

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New defamation suit against Fox signals continued legal threat

New defamation suit against Fox signals continued legal threat

The New York Times reports: Fox News was hit on Wednesday with another defamation lawsuit, this one from a woman who said the network promoted lies about her that generated serious threats to her safety and harmed her career prospects. The suit was filed on behalf of Nina Jankowicz, the former executive director of a short-lived Department of Homeland Security division assigned with coordinating efforts to monitor and address disinformation threats to national security. Right-wing pundits and politicians falsely portrayed…

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Elon Musk threatens to re-assign @NPR on Twitter to ‘another company’

Elon Musk threatens to re-assign @NPR on Twitter to ‘another company’

NPR reports: Elon Musk has threatened to reassign NPR’s Twitter account to “another company.” In a series of emails sent to this reporter, Musk said he would transfer the network’s main account on Twitter, under the @NPR handle, to another organization or person. The idea shocked even longtime observers of Musk’s spur-of-the-moment and erratic leadership style. Handing over established accounts to third parties poses a serious risk of impersonation and could imperil a company’s reputation, said social media experts. “If…

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Carlson’s text that alarmed Fox leaders: ‘It’s not how white men fight’

Carlson’s text that alarmed Fox leaders: ‘It’s not how white men fight’

The New York Times reports: A text message sent by Tucker Carlson that set off a panic at the highest levels of Fox on the eve of its billion-dollar defamation trial showed its most popular host sharing his private, inflammatory views about violence and race. The discovery of the message contributed to a chain of events that ultimately led to Mr. Carlson’s firing. In the message, sent to one of his producers in the hours after violent Trump supporters stormed…

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Kremlin propagandists outraged that ‘our favorite, Tucker Carlson,’ got fired

Kremlin propagandists outraged that ‘our favorite, Tucker Carlson,’ got fired

Julia Davis reports: The explosive news of Tucker Carlson’s firing from Fox News came as a surprise to many, including some of his biggest fans: propagandists who are shilling for the Kremlin on Russian state TV. During Monday’s broadcast of The Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, state TV propagandists discussed the best ways for Russia to attack America on its own turf, citing internal divisions and conflicts as an opening that should be continually probed and exploited. This conversation naturally led…

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Tucker Carlson, fired by Fox, gets Moscow job offer from Putin’s lead propagandist, Vladimir Solovyov

Tucker Carlson, fired by Fox, gets Moscow job offer from Putin’s lead propagandist, Vladimir Solovyov

Gabriel Sherman reports: The media world was blindsided by the news that Tucker Carlson and Fox News would be parting ways. So was Carlson. On Monday morning, Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott called Carlson and informed him he was being taken off the air, and his Fox News email account was shut off. According to a source briefed on the conversation, Carlson was stunned by his sudden ouster from his 8 p.m. show, the most watched program in cable news…

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A California journalist documents the far-right takeover of her town: ‘We’re a test case’

A California journalist documents the far-right takeover of her town: ‘We’re a test case’

The Guardian reports: In a seemingly long gone era – before the Trump presidency, and Covid, and the 2020 election – Doni Chamberlain would get the occasional call from a displeased reader who had taken issue with one of her columns. They would sometimes call her stupid and use profanities. Today, when people don’t like her pieces, Chamberlain said, they tell her she’s a communist who doesn’t deserve to live. One local conservative radio host said she should be hanged….

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Fox News’s settlement in the Dominion case is big news, except on Fox News

Fox News’s settlement in the Dominion case is big news, except on Fox News

The New York Times reports: Fox News’s last-minute settlement with Dominion Voting Systems on Tuesday earned banner coverage on every television news network but one: Fox News. The $787.5 million settlement was covered only three times by Fox News in about four hours after the settlement became public, amounting to about six minutes of coverage. For most of the day, including during the network’s prime-time shows, hosts appeared to be focusing on other issues, like illegal immigration and Covid-19’s possible…

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Fox can claim tax writeoff for defamation settlement

Fox can claim tax writeoff for defamation settlement

The Lever reports: Fox’s massive settlement with private equity-backed voting machine company Dominion Voting Systems didn’t just spare the conservative news organization from a lengthy public defamation trial or a full public reckoning for its election lies — it could also mean a tax break as large as $213 million, according to a Lever review. On Tuesday, Fox News and its parent company Fox Corporation agreed to pay a $787 million settlement to Dominion, the largest-known media defamation payout in U.S. history, concluding two years of litigation over…

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With a heavy weight on his shoulders, Evan Gershkovich is standing tall

With a heavy weight on his shoulders, Evan Gershkovich is standing tall

Jason Rezaian writes: As Evan Gershkovich appeared in a Moscow courtroom, everything about the stage-managed proceedings was designed to elicit a specific response. He was placed in a glass cage where cameras flashed around him. Local Russian journalists covering the appearance yelled words of encouragement to him. Courtroom security guards admonished them for doing so. And the judge presiding over Gershkovich’s case rejected his appeal to be released on bail. In short, everyone played their part. Everyone, that is, except…

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For Rupert Murdoch, $787.5 million is just the price of doing business

For Rupert Murdoch, $787.5 million is just the price of doing business

Jack Shafer writes: If it seems fairly daft to congratulate Rupert Murdoch on settling the Dominion Voting Systems defamation case at a cost of $787.5 million, you probably need to be brought up to speed on how the tycoon excises malignancies when they threaten his core businesses. Murdoch’s company paid $100 million to celebrities and crime victims in his tabloid phone-hacking scandal in Britain, according to the Washington Post. Another $50 million went one year to women at Fox News who alleged sexual harassment…

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Fox investors seek records in possible step toward suing directors

Fox investors seek records in possible step toward suing directors

Reuters reports: Fox Corp shareholders are demanding company records that may show whether directors and executives properly oversaw Fox News’ coverage of former President Donald Trump’s election-rigging claims, sources told Reuters, in what could be a prelude to lawsuits seeking to make directors liable for costs. Investors are using provisions in Delaware corporate law to demand internal Fox records to investigate how Fox’s leaders acted as its Fox News network aired segments on Trump’s false claims that he lost the…

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Dominon, like Fox, places its business interests above public interest

Dominon, like Fox, places its business interests above public interest

Erik Wemple writes: In its statement, Fox News demonstrated that not even a court record bulging with evidence of perfidy is enough to shame the organization into genuine contrition. “We are pleased to have reached a settlement of our dispute with Dominion Voting Systems. We acknowledge the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false. This settlement reflects FOX’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards.” (Boldface added to highlight the network’s minimization of the fact that the…

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Fox News is on trial, and so are lies about 2020

Fox News is on trial, and so are lies about 2020

The New York Times reports: A judge in Delaware Superior Court is expected to swear in the jury as soon as Monday in a defamation trial that has little precedent in American law. Fox News, one of the most powerful and profitable media companies, will defend itself against extensive evidence suggesting it told its audience a story of conspiracy and fraud in the 2020 election it knew wasn’t true. The jury will be asked to weigh lofty questions about the…

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