This is no post on lakhs Crore asset value or 500 crore defamation
suit ! – not a political post either !!
The elections on Nov 3, 2020 was followed globally – that election
held in USA was the
59th quadrennial presidential election. The Democratic ticket of former vice
president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala Harris
defeated the incumbent Republican president Donald Trump and incumbent vice
president Mike Pence. The election took place against the backdrop of the
global COVID-19 pandemic and related recession. It was the first election since
1992 in which the incumbent president failed to win a second term. The election
saw the highest voter turnout by percentage since 1952, with each of the two
main tickets receiving more than 74 million votes, surpassing Barack Obama's
record of 69.5 million votes from 2008. Biden received more than 81 million
votes, the most votes ever cast for a candidate in a U.S. presidential
election.
1.
The Fox News
Channel, abbreviated FNC, is an American multinational conservative news
entertainment and political commentary television channel and website based in
New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owned by the Fox
Corporation. It is the most-watched cable network in the U.S. The channel broadcasts primarily from studios
at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan. The channel was created by
Australian-American media mogul Rupert Murdoch in 1996 to appeal to a
conservative audience, hiring former Republican media consultant and CNBC
executive Roger Ailes as its founding CEO
2.
Dominion Voting Systems Corporation is a company that produces and sells
electronic voting hardware and software, including voting machines and
tabulators, in Canada and the United States.The company's headquarters are in
Toronto, Ontario, where it was founded, and Denver, Colorado. It develops
software in offices in the United States, Canada, and Serbia. Dominion produces
electronic voting machines, which allow voters to cast their votes
electronically as well as optical scanning devices used to tabulate paper
ballots.
Defamation is the act of making false statements about a person, place, or
thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or
written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. Calumny,
Slander, libel, vilification, traducement – better known as ‘defamation’ – is
the communication that makes a claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual
but may give an individual or a Company – a negative image. This is a serious offence in Western
World. This would include disparaging
remarks of some one published or stated.
Understand that in US, the person must first prove that the
statement was false and then that the statement caused harm. The person proving libel would also be
required to prove that the statement was made without adequate
truthfulness. In some Nations, there are
even criminal penalties for defamation on certain grounds. Sometimes newspapers, magazines, newschannels
go overboard; sometimes – a small slip-up could make them repent for life !
After
Trump's defeat in the 2020 presidential election, Fox News host Jeanine Pirro
promoted allegations on her program that Dominion and its competitor Smartmatic
had conspired to rig the election against Trump. Hosts Lou Dobbs and Maria
Bartiromo also promoted the allegations on their programs on sister network Fox
Business. That backfired ! In December
2020, Smartmatic sent a letter to Fox News demanding retractions and
threatening legal action, specifying that retractions "must be published
on multiple occasions" so as to "match the attention and audience
targeted with the original defamatory publications." Days later, each of
the three programs aired the same three-minute video segment consisting of an
interview with an election technology expert who refuted the allegations
promoted by the hosts, responding to questions from an unseen and unidentified
man. None of the three hosts personally issued retractions. Smartmatic filed a
$2.7 billion defamation suit against the network, the three hosts, Trump
campaign attorney Sidney Powell and Trump personal attorney Rudy Giuliani in
February 2021. In an April 2021 court brief seeking dismissal of the suit, Fox
attorney Paul Clement argued that the network was simply "reporting
allegations made by a sitting President and his lawyers”.
In
December 2020, Dominion sent a similar letter demanding retractions to Trump
attorney Sidney Powell, who had promoted
the allegations on Fox programs. On March 26, 2021, Dominion filed a $1.6
billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News, alleging that Fox and some of its
pundits spread conspiracy theories about Dominion, and allowed guests to make
false statements about the company.
Months later, Fox filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, asserting a
First Amendment right "to inform the public about newsworthy allegations
of paramount public concern." The motion to dismiss was denied.
Specifically,
Dominion focused on allegations made between November 2020 and January 2021 by
Maria Bartiromo on her show Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo and Fox
& Friends; and some other news items. Guests who often appeared during these
segments included Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell. Then came a ruling that Dominion suit would
not be dismissed and that Fox Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch and
CEO Lachlan Murdoch may have acted with actual malice because there was a
reasonable inference they "either knew Dominion had not manipulated the
election or at least recklessly disregarded the truth when they allegedly
caused Fox News to propagate its claims about Dominion."
Dominion Voting Systems v. Fox News Network (colloquially Dominion
v. Fox)
was a defamation lawsuit filed in March 2021 by Dominion Voting Systems against
Fox News Channel and its corporate parent Fox Corporation. Dominion's complaint
sought $1.6 billion in damages, against Fox News which argued that it was reporting "pure
opinion" regarding what others were saying which, if true, would be
protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution and New York Times Co. v.
Sullivan (1964).
In a
March 31, 2023 summary judgment, Delaware Superior Court judge Eric M. Davis
ruled that none of the statements Fox News made about Dominion were true and
ordered a trial to determine if the network had acted with actual malice.
Several prominent Fox News personalities and senior executives were expected to
testify at trial.
Now comes the news that just as opening statements were about to begin, the
parties reached a settlement with Fox News agreeing to pay Dominion $787.5
million.[Rs 6400 crores approx. !!]
A
few days ago, the night before the trial was scheduled to begin, Judge Davis
announced a one-day delay, without any further details, reportedly having asked the parties to try to
settle. CNN later reported the delay was
to allow veteran mediator Jerry Roscoe time to attempt to reach a deal. On
April 18, the trial was set to begin with opening statements, but was delayed
again for the final time. With the jury
seated and attorneys about to make their opening statements, Davis announced
Dominion and Fox News had reached a settlement. Fox
agreed to pay Dominion $787.5 million, one of the largest ever publicly known
settlements in a US defamation case.
Fox
released a statement saying, in part, "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." The settlement did not require Fox News to
apologize for any wrongdoing in its programming. Strange
are the ways of people ! – and understanding the case would require lot of reading as libel cases and settlements
out-of-court are sort of common in Western Countries.
Sukanya
of Chinna Gounder, Indian and so many movies may not require any
introduction. She is a singer, music composer, Bharatanatyam danseuse
and voice actor too. Few years ago, Sukanya,
filed a defamation case against
‘Nakkeeran’ – and after 15 odd years, Court acquitted its editor Gopal, directed Sun TV to pay Rs.10,00,500 to Sukanya
as damages.
With
regards – S. Sampathkumar
20.04.2023