Act Daily News
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This is it.
The media defamation trial of the century is on the precipice of kicking off in Wilmington, Delaware, in simply days.
Jury choice in Dominion Voting Systems’ monster $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit occurred all of Thursday, with 300 potential jurors being summoned to court docket. Good progress was made and the presiding decide famous that there have been “more than enough jurors” to start out the trial as scheduled on Monday.
It is there, in Courtroom 7E, the place the largest figures in Murdoch Media, accompanied by a throng of high-powered legal professionals, will try and mount their protection after repeatedly failing to persuade a decide to toss the now-historic case.
A model of this text first appeared within the “Reliable Sources” publication. Sign up for the each day digest chronicling the evolving media panorama right here.
It’s, frankly, extraordinary to write down these phrases. When I watched Fox News broadcast election lies within the aftermath of the 2020 election, by no means did I count on the community to be held accountable in a significant method.
I’ve lined Fox News for some time now. I’ve watched 1000’s and 1000’s of hours of the right-wing channel’s programming. I’ve seen its hosts over time undermine public well being, make gross anti-immigrant remarks, peddle lies and propaganda and push deranged conspiracy theories that have been as soon as reserved for the right-wing’s furthest fringes.
The community has all the time appeared to discover a option to sail by means of the controversy, even probably the most hellish storms it has confronted. Sometimes it has emerged even stronger and extra emboldened than earlier than.
But this time is totally different. This time, the conventional tips the community turns to throughout instances of disaster is not going to free it from bother. This time, in a court docket of legislation, the community might want to put ahead an sincere, fact-driven argument.
Fox News is about to enter the true No Spin Zone, the place deception is strictly prohibited. Where it isn’t in cost. And the place its high executives like Rupert Murdoch and Suzanne Scott and hosts like Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity can not merely ignore a request for remark and resort to, as an alternative, attacking “the media” on-air.
In this setting, the place lies can’t be casually instructed and reality can’t be distorted past actuality to suit a dishonest narrative, it is going to be fascinating to see how the community fares. If the pre-trial hearings are any indicator, it gained’t be fairly. The case hasn’t even began and the presiding decide has already misplaced his endurance with Fox’s authorized staff and put them on discover.
Perhaps the winds will shift for Fox News when the decide gavels within the trial on Monday. But in the event that they play out like the previous couple of weeks of court docket have, Fox News is in for a brutal experience.
Source: www.cnn.com