How Fox News works

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54 minutes ago, Red Five said:

So, Alex Jones.

27 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

Kinda.  He‘S a criminal shitbag and I’ll give him credit for being original.  He’s been ‘on the scene’ since I was in undergrad.  

It has to piss Alex Jones off to no end, that he was putting in his time doing fucking public access TV in the 90s for not much money, and now 30 years later he’s in a crowded field full of 20-something’s that are making 10 times what he makes, and he’s the reason why they’re able to show their faces in public and have large rallies and are selling their books and interviews and what not.

[YGIFS 19458]

^
Yep, this.  I know some folks in broadcasting who are rightfully contempt at how they spent years, even decades, doing it the old school way-developing sources, research, gaining trust, greasing wheels outta their own pocket, traveling on their own time to cull resources, etc.  Even with a political slant, they were still doing somewhat honest work.  Now it's "Broadcast Stupid Stuff, Win Stupid Followers" as a mantra.  I wouldn't give fuck one about any of 'em except that now it's a game of one-ups-manship.  Alex Jones and Sandy Hook was just him trying to stay ahead of the curve.  The shit we're gonna see/hear in the coming years is gonna make that look like an editing mistake.  They're gonna stoop below any modicum of sense we could ever conceive. 

The truly horrifying part is FoxNews, Alex Jones, Ben Shapiro, Tomi Lahren, Joe Rogan, Qanon, OANN.  Think about this, their audiences are still growing.  If they were all fighting over the same batshit crazy, prone-to-violence, lost-to-time backwards 25mm Americans.  That'd be one thing.  We've always had that issue.  What they've stumbled upon through hate-speech and data analytics is there's more than enough red meat for all of them.  And more.  They can all have a slice of this, and some overlap too.  They can all get well, advance their personality, and influence elections and policy.  The more of them there are, the nuttier their talking points, the more they succeed---the exact opposite of the first 75 years of mass media.  They will reach a point of saturation though.  It's not me saying we're better than them, it's just market mathematics.  And that's when the real shitshow begins.  What are they, and their audiences, truly capable of to remain relevant in an America they believe has largely passed them by?  In 10 years time, when their clock is up, someone will emerge to aggregate this movement once and for all, and he'll make Rush Limbaugh look like a warm voice of reason. 

[Francisco 2.0 32610]

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/27/business/media/fox-news-dominion-rupert-murdoch.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=US Politics

 

Quote

Rupert Murdoch, chairman of the conservative media empire that owns Fox News, acknowledged in a deposition that several hosts for his networks promoted the false narrative that the election in 2020 was stolen from former President Donald J. Trump, court documents released on Monday showed.

“They endorsed,” Mr. Murdoch said under oath in response to direct questions about the hosts Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro, Lou Dobbs and Maria Bartiromo, a legal filing by Dominion Voting Systems said. “I would have liked us to be stronger in denouncing it in hindsight.”

 

Quote

Mr. Murdoch’s remarks, which he made last month as part of the $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox by Dominion, added to the evidence that Dominion has accumulated in an attempt to prove its central allegation: The people running the country’s most popular news network knew Mr. Trump’s claims of voter fraud during the 2020 election were false but broadcast them anyway.

The new documents and a similar batch released this month revealed that top executives and on-air hosts reacted with incredulity bordering on contempt to the various fictitious allegations about Dominion, including that a secret algorithm in its machines allowed votes to be switched from one candidate to another and that the company was founded in Venezuela to help that country’s longtime leader, Hugo Chávez, fix elections.

 

Quote

Dominion’s latest filing also described how Paul D. Ryan, a former Republican speaker of the House and current member of the Fox Corporation board of directors, said in his deposition that he had told Mr. Murdoch and Mr. Murdoch’s son Lachlan, the chief executive officer, “Fox News should not be spreading conspiracy theories.” Mr. Ryan suggested that the network pivot and “move on from Donald Trump and stop spouting election lies.”

The filing depicts Mr. Murdoch as a chairman who was both deeply engaged with his senior leadership about coverage of the election and operating at somewhat of a remove, unwilling to interfere. Asked by Dominion’s lawyer, Justin Nelson, whether he could have ordered Fox News to keep Trump lawyers like Sidney Powell and Rudolph W. Giuliani off the air, Mr. Murdoch responded: “I could have. But I didn’t.”

 

Spoiler

The filing helps fill in the broader case against Fox News and its corporate parent, Fox Corporation, that Dominion lawyers hope to present to a jury in April, when a Delaware judge has scheduled the trial to begin.

A Fox News spokeswoman said on Monday in response to the filing that Dominion’s view of defamation law took “an extreme, unsupported view of defamation law that would prevent journalists from basic reporting.”

Since Dominion sued in early 2021, it has argued that Fox chose ratings and profit over its journalistic obligation to tell viewers the truth.

Using text messages and emails sent by Fox employees and prominent hosts like Mr. Hannity and Tucker Carlson in the weeks after the election, Dominion has pieced together a dramatic account from inside the network, depicting a frantic scramble to woo back viewers after ratings collapsed.

On election night, Fox News was the first news outlet to declare Joseph R. Biden Jr. the winner of Arizona — effectively projecting that he would become the next president. With Mr. Trump refusing to concede that he had lost, he and his supporters turned against Fox, and the network’s ratings fell. Soon, many of the most popular hosts and shows on Fox began promoting the outlandish claims that Dominion machines were an integral part of a far-reaching voter fraud conspiracy to deny Mr. Trump a second term.

The filing on Monday also included a deposition by Viet Dinh, Fox’s chief legal officer. After Mr. Hannity told his audience on Nov. 5, 2020, that it would be “impossible to ever know the true, fair, accurate election results,” Mr. Dinh said, he remarked to Lachlan Murdoch; the chief executive of Fox News Media, Suzanne Scott; and Fox’s top communications officer, Irena Briganti: “Hannity is getting awfully close to the line with his commentary and guests tonight.”

In his deposition, Mr. Dinh, when asked if Fox executives had an obligation to stop hosts of shows from broadcasting lies, said: “Yes, to prevent and correct known falsehoods.”

Lawyers for Fox, which filed its response to Dominion in court on Monday, have argued that its broadcasts after the election did not amount to defamation because they were protected under the First Amendment. In court filings, Fox has defended its commentary and reporting as the kind of work that any journalistic outfit would do by covering events and newsmakers that are indisputably newsworthy.

“A reasonable viewer would have readily understood that hosts were not espousing the President’s allegations themselves, but were providing a forum for the principal architects of those legal challenges,” Fox lawyers said in a brief filed this month.

If its broadcasts did not present any of the fraud allegations as true, the network has argued, “there is no potential for defamation at all.”

Ultimately, the case is likely to revolve around questions about the intent of Fox hosts when they gave pro-Trump election deniers like Ms. Powell and Mr. Giuliani a platform and, in many cases, mustered no pushback as their guests falsely and repeatedly implicated Dominion in a plot to disenfranchise tens of millions of Trump voters.

Fox lawyers have pointed to instances on the air when hosts did challenge these claims and pressed Ms. Powell and Mr. Giuliani to present evidence that never materialized. At other times, Fox has argued, the hosts were plainly expressing their opinions, or used language that was “loose” and “figurative” and therefore protected under the First Amendment.

But Dominion has said the actions of Fox hosts including Mr. Carlson, Mr. Hannity, Ms. Bartiromo and Mr. Dobbs — and the producers and executives overseeing their programs — were anything but a dispassionate recitation of newsworthy claims of fraud. Rather, Dominion has argued, the internal communications it has uncovered point to how Fox employees behaved with “actual malice” — the legal standard required to prove defamation.

There are two ways to meet that high legal bar, by showing that defendants either knew what they were saying was false or acted with such haste and disregard for the truth that they overlooked obvious facts to the contrary.

In a brief filed in court this month, Dominion lawyers revealed private text messages and emails that showed hosts including Mr. Carlson repeatedly insulting and mocking Trump advisers like Ms. Powell.

“Sidney Powell is lying by the way. I caught her. It’s insane,” Mr. Carlson wrote on Nov. 18, 2020, to Laura Ingraham, who hosts the prime-time Fox News show that airs after his.

Ms. Ingraham responded: “Sidney is a complete nut. No one will work with her. Ditto with Rudy.”

Mr. Carlson continued, “Our viewers are good people and they believe it,” making it clear that he did not.

 

 

Edited February 27, 2023 by Francisco 2.0

[Longhorn_Fan68 34108]

another person who could do us all a favor and fuck off and die already

[Neonmoon 38130]

Everyone single one are traitors and I hope someone shoots up the place 

[wildcat09 29600]

 

 

[Longhorn_Fan68 34108]

and yet they still lost. losers

[Underdog 29217]

 

[Matuka 1320]

3 hours ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

 

 

 

 

 

  Hide contents

Mr. Carlson continued, “Our viewers are good people and they believe it,” making it clear that he did not.

 

 

It’s almost like he knew his text would likely be subpoenaed.

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3 hours ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

another person who could do us all a favor and fuck off and die already

I don't think his sons will be any better, however they may not be able to wrangle the personalities in the way that he does, so either it starts dying off/losing to Newsmax/whatever, or FNC goes full Qanon.

[Biff Tannen 46202]

2 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

so either it starts dying off/losing to Newsmax/whatever, or FNC goes full Qanon.

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

7 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

I don't think his sons will be any better, however they may not be able to wrangle the personalities in the way that he does, so either it starts dying off/losing to Newsmax/whatever, or FNC goes full Qanon.

Apparently it’s just Lachlan. IIRC the other children have distanced themselves somewhat from the operations. However, Lachlan is arguably more RW than his Dad so we’ve got that going for us. 

[High Plains Drifter 11192]

4 hours ago, Neonmoon said:

Everyone single one are traitors and I hope someone shoots up the place 

 

This really is the only realistic solution, because they will never be stopped.

 

[Longhorn_Fan68 34108]

1 hour ago, atomheartbevo said:

I don't think his sons will be any better, however they may not be able to wrangle the personalities in the way that he does, so either it starts dying off/losing to Newsmax/whatever, or FNC goes full Qanon.

As a Cowboys fan i know this sentiment all too well. Rarely do the offspring have the same pull as the father. I think I'd rather take my chances and have that rancid old fucker out of the equation 

[Horn Dog 10188]

5 hours ago, wildcat09 said:

 

 

I am no lawyer but how can it be legal  for a company hired to handle your confidential marketing material to hand it over to your competitor in an obvious attempt to harm you?

[Gatorubet 30789]

In the dominion lawsuit deposition of Robert Murdoch, he apparently said under oath that Trump’s stolen election claims were “bullshit and damaging”.   

And yet Fox was all in on spreading and legitimizing the damaging bullshit. 

Since all the Fox Talking Heads admit that the election was not stolen, every single GQP candidate needs to be specifically asked repeatedly about Hannity and Carlson and Murdoch’s sworn statements - and if they agree with them.    Turning MAGAT politicians against Fox is never a bad thing, and GQP politicians continuing to appear as cult following fools to the ever larger former-conservative-but-now-independent-b/c-Trump voting block is also a good thing.

Win some independents on both Ukraine support and MAGAT litmus test stuff and a 10% lean Dem by an anti-GQP middle will do damage in most general elections.   I can dream….

https://apple.news/AKXA1xL8GR1qxgYQo90Hsyg

Edited February 28, 2023 by Gatorubet

[C-Man 27831]

So what is the endgame here for Fox News? If half of what has come out is true, it should completely ruin a news organization (narrator: it won't). What will the settlement be? How much of a hit could Fox News/NewsCorp take?

[DigglerontheHoof 21564]

10 minutes ago, C-Man said:

So what is the endgame here for Fox News? If half of what has come out is true, it should completely ruin a news organization (narrator: it won't). What will the settlement be? How much of a hit could Fox News/NewsCorp take?

If they're like most things maga...absolutely nothing of serious consequence will happen to them.  They'll pay a shit-ton of money, but not more than they can handle, and will continue on business as usual.  

That would be my guess. 

[gyroprotagonist 2597]

coverage will return to stuff like tan suits, kneeling athletes/halftime performances and book bannings in school libraries.  every time gas crests $3.00 a canned story will come out.  Just need to keep the lib bogeyman a smidge more esoteric and undefined and it's all good.  maybe even a few more stories about kids using litterboxes in schools for good measure. 

Oh i know.  how about a Dilbert redemption tour?

[Gatorubet 30789]

1 hour ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

If they're like most things maga...absolutely nothing of serious consequence will happen to them.  They'll pay a shit-ton of money, but not more than they can handle, and will continue on business as usual.  

That would be my guess. 

I actually think this is a bigger crisis for Fox than you think.  If I was Dominion's council, I would go full speed ahead trial.    With their most popular talking head talent admitting that they knew they were spreading  lies while knowing they were lies, it is a good case.

Murdoch admitting that he could’ve stopped them from saying those lies if he had wanted to seems very important to me.   In my only civil RICO case the VP of a financial giant admitted they could’ve funded the loans that they illegally denied.   After a week of trial, they settled.   It is one thing to do something wrong, but quite another to absolutely know you were doing wrong, admit that you knew it was wrong, and not give a shit who you hurt by doing the wrong thing anyway. 

Fox’s problem is that there is no rogue reporter to blame this on.  It was a flat, cold, business decision at the highest level to make money catering to MAGAts at the expense of Dominion’s reputation and financial well-being. That could be problematic.   

To your point, why would Dominion not want its pound of flesh from Fox via trial coverage?  They will hurt Fox with Trump fans and solidify the Fox haters’ view of Fox as propaganda.  It will be settled for more than Fox can handle comfortably if it settles.   And maybe include a public statement that the Big Lie is a lie.   If I was Dominion I would make the public statement by Fox that Dominion played no part in a stolen election a non-negotiable settlement point. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13742]

19 minutes ago, Gatorubet said:

I actually think this is a bigger crisis for Fox than you think.  If I was Dominion's council, I would go full speed ahead trial.    With their most popular talking head talent admitting that they knew they were spreading  lies while knowing they were lies, it is a good case.

Murdoch admitting that he could’ve stopped them from saying those lies if he had wanted to seems very important to me.   In my only civil RICO case the VP of a financial giant admitted they could’ve funded the loans that they illegally denied.   After a week of trial, they settled.   It is one thing to do something wrong, but quite another to absolutely know you were doing wrong, admit that you knew it was wrong, and not give a shit who you hurt by doing the wrong thing anyway. 

Fox’s problem is that there is no rogue reporter to blame this on.  It was a flat, cold, business decision at the highest level to make money catering to MAGAts at the expense of Dominion’s reputation and financial well-being. That could be problematic.   

To your point, why would Dominion not want its pound of flesh from Fox via trial coverage?  They will hurt Fox with Trump fans and solidify the Fox haters’ view of Fox as propaganda.  It will be settled for more than Fox can handle comfortably if it settles.   And maybe include a public statement that the Big Lie is a lie.   If I was Dominion I would make the public statement by Fox that Dominion played no part in a stolen election a non-negotiable settlement point. 

Non-lawyer here but doesn't Dominion run a risk that going to trial could create such a large judgement against Fox that Fox seeks bankruptcy protection?  If Fox settles, presumably you get a big check from them.

CNN article about the threat to Fox's existence with this suit and the other voting machine suit, especially given Murdoch's admissions: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/28/media/fox-news-dominion-damages

Edited February 28, 2023 by Nice Guy Eddie

[Red Five 41785]

I keep waiting for our lawyers here to show up and say "Actually, this wasn't technically defamation, and in fact when this is all over Dominion will probably owe Fox a bunch of money". I'm conditioned. 

[Biff Tannen 46202]

44 minutes ago, Gatorubet said:

It is one thing to do something wrong, but quite another to absolutely know you were doing wrong, admit that you knew it was wrong, and not give a shit who you hurt by doing the wrong thing anyway. 

AKA, knowing falsity, if my listen to that Jon Stewart podcast was accurate.

[Pato del Muerto 53592]

54 minutes ago, Gatorubet said:

If I was Dominion I would make the public statement by Fox that Dominion played no part in a stolen election a non-negotiable settlement point. 

That won’t undo any damage or change any minds. The people that still believe the lie will tell themselves and each other that fox doesn’t mean it, they just had to do it to get past the lawsuit. Politicians involved in elections any level will continue to not consider dominion, and look to move away from there, as it will continue to be the politically expedient move. 

[Biff Tannen 46202]

2 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

The people that still believe the lie will tell themselves and each other that fox doesn’t mean it, they just had to do it to get past the lawsuit

Either this or they'll hand wave and say "all the news channels lie" and still believe in their minds that there's at least some truth to the lie.  They are too deep in.  They aren't letting go now.

[Gatorubet 30789]

31 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Non-lawyer here but doesn't Dominion run a risk that going to trial could create such a large judgement against Fox that Fox seeks bankruptcy protection?  If Fox settles, presumably you get a big check from them.

To exclude a debt in bankruptcy discharge, the “willful” and “malicious” nature of Fox’s actions will likely each have to be proven.  In Chapter 11, “willful” means a deliberate or intentional injury, not merely a deliberate or intentional act that leads to injury.  ( I think ). Not my area of practice. 

If the plaintiff counsel shows that Fox made a conscious act (defamation) that injured Dominion, it might be enough to win the trial - but not enough to avoid some kind of bankruptcy discharge.    The acts must have been done with the intent to cause the injury.   So I guess what I don’t know if there is any discovery evidence that they had an issue with hurting Dominion.  When this first blew up and Dominion pushed back on the theory against Fox, if there are emails saying “well, fuck Dominion…let’s go with the story and I hope we put them out of business”    - that would be bad.

Fox does not want to go into bankruptcy because they were hit for billions of dollars when they knowingly lied about false news repeatedly with all of their main anchors.   Nor do they want to re-litigate the entire thing in a bankruptcy court and be on TV every day again.  Fox would do better to give them a bunch of money and do public apology spots, saying there was no evidence Dominion had anything to do with any election rigging.     That will be some short term pain, but the next day they will go back to lying and pandering to their heart’s content.   They just come back even harder in the tank for Trump and MAGA and GQP and pretend like it never happened.    It’s viewers won’t care that much once they start running ‘Messican illegal transgender bathroom attack stories the next day. 

I am loving the press right now tho.  

[sidis 10019]

54 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Non-lawyer here but doesn't Dominion run a risk that going to trial could create such a large judgement against Fox that Fox seeks bankruptcy protection?  If Fox settles, presumably you get a big check from them.

CNN article about the threat to Fox's existence with this suit and the other voting machine suit, especially given Murdoch's admissions: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/28/media/fox-news-dominion-damages

a $1.6 billion judgment would not put them anywhere near bankruptcy risk.  as of the end of of their FY2022, they had $5.2 billion in cash on hand.  See page 66.

https://media.foxcorporation.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/2022/09/19142833/FOX-2022-Annual-Report_Final_Web.pdf

[YGIFS 19458]

$5.2bn cash on hand at a company with that kinda market cap says "healthy balance sheet"

$5.2bn cash on hand at a company with that kinda name, FoxNews, means "somebody raped somebody again"  

[Gatorubet 30789]

15 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

That won’t undo any damage or change any minds. The people that still believe the lie will tell themselves and each other that fox doesn’t mean it, they just had to do it to get past the lawsuit.  

This is a good point, and I agree with you. But often in litigation the purpose to get a pound of flesh out of the people you despise and are suing.  If I know that my reputation will not ever recover, and that I will continue to lose money, then I might default to the time-honored notion of fucking up your opponent as much as humanly possible just because you want to produce pain.

On that note, I defer to any divorce attorneys here for their more knowledgeable comments. 

[sidis 10019]

looking through their financial statements, one of the things that surprised me is that fox news is $6.1B of their overall $13.9B (see p. 103 of the above link).  that is a significantly larger share than i expected.  and their ebitda margins on fox news are light years higher than they are on regular tv.  their ebitda margin on fox news is 48% and on all other entertainment, it is only 4%. i guess paying dumbfucks to get up and spew horseshit isn't terribly expensive.

[YGIFS 19458]

Imma just chime in and say 48% EBITDA margin?  Holy fucking shit.  considering the industry?  Wow.  I guess I had some idea.  But I had no idea.  Fucking A.  This is gonna shape my lectures for the coming semester.  Fucking-A, wow.  

[WhatTheBuck 28941]

For Sidney.

 

[atomheartbevo 90674]

2 hours ago, Gatorubet said:

I actually think this is a bigger crisis for Fox than you think.  If I was Dominion's council, I would go full speed ahead trial.    With their most popular talking head talent admitting that they knew they were spreading  lies while knowing they were lies, it is a good case.

...

To your point, why would Dominion not want its pound of flesh from Fox via trial coverage?  They will hurt Fox with Trump fans and solidify the Fox haters’ view of Fox as propaganda.  It will be settled for more than Fox can handle comfortably if it settles.   And maybe include a public statement that the Big Lie is a lie.   If I was Dominion I would make the public statement by Fox that Dominion played no part in a stolen election a non-negotiable settlement point. 

2 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Non-lawyer here but doesn't Dominion run a risk that going to trial could create such a large judgement against Fox that Fox seeks bankruptcy protection?  If Fox settles, presumably you get a big check from them.

Dominion is pretty much finished as a company going forward, in terms of new customers - you know anybody who might have considered them is going to think "if we pick them, MAGA will show up screaming and threatening us for having picked them!"

That counts for something, in terms of damages, but also in terms of how far Dominion will go - there's no reason for them to back off the gas.

[Neonmoon 38130]

Dominion should not settle. Their company was ruined. Not only should they bankrupt those FNC cocksuckers, they should go after each of those cunts individually as well. 

[YGIFS 19458]

I mean, I'll leave this for the litigators on the site.  But this is a wee bit different than most civil cases.  There's the damages, the lost revenue, etc.  But a number of Dominion employees were heavily threatened with murder and kidnapping, but people who know how.  That's not nothing.  I mean, we've all made vague threats against businesses who've wronged us...but literal militias with military-grade weapons and training told Dominion executives, in no uncertain terms, "You cost us our electoral dynasty....we know where you live...you're dead." 

[Biff Tannen 46202]

5 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

Dominion should not settle. Their company was ruined. Not only should they bankrupt those FNC cocksuckers, they should go after each of those cunts individually as well. 

They kill their kids, they kill their wives, they kill their parents and their parents' friends. They burn down the houses they live in and the stores they work in, they kill people that owe them money...

[aggie08 21849]

They could force Tucker Carlson to read this statement at the beginning of every show:

"We at Fox knowingly lied about election fraud in the 2020 Presidential Election. We knowing lie all of the time. We're all vaccinated. Every one of us. We lie purely to sow discord and prey on your emotions and fears for ratings and money. We've done so successfully for so long because we think that our audience is full of complete imbeciles. Nothing you're about to hear beyond this point is the truth."

And, as long as he did it with a stupid smirk on his face, they'd gain viewers.

[aggie08 21849]

Basically, the right would turn any forced disclaimer into the South Park "This program should not be viewed by anyone" in-joke. There's no getting to them that way. 

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

2 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

Either this or they'll hand wave and say "all the news channels lie" and still believe in their minds that there's at least some truth to the lie.  They are too deep in.  They aren't letting go now.

That was fairly close to what I was seeing on RW forums.

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

1 hour ago, sidis said:

a $1.6 billion judgment would not put them anywhere near bankruptcy risk.  as of the end of of their FY2022, they had $5.2 billion in cash on hand. 

Even if they were hard up for dollars,  Elon was chatting up Rupert at the Super Bowl and either telling Rupert he knew just how to fix all this, or he was passing along the number to get in touch with Saudi investors. I mean, I'm kidding but once we allowed news stations, even ones that are no longer fit to be titled as news, to have foreign ownership, it does open up opportunities in all sorts of ways.

[tx 3 putt 78748]

1 hour ago, Neonmoon said:

Dominion should not settle. Their company was ruined. Not only should they bankrupt those FNC cocksuckers, they should go after each of those cunts individually as well. 

 

have to factor in letting a jury decide and, years and years of appeals vs settling ?

[Gatorubet 30789]

1 hour ago, tx 3 putt said:

 

have to factor in letting a jury decide and, years and years of appeals vs settling ?

Not as important in this case. Every case is different.  This one is extremely unique.   One aspect of this case is that no matter the jury verdict, even if upheld on appeal, NO red state government election officials will ever use Dominion because of the negative reaction by hard line GQPN,/MAGA people.    They will never let Dominion have any role in their elections. They simply won’t.   

I would love to see damage experts take the stand and explain the level of gullibility and stupidity in many GOP voters.  I think they can rightfully and clearly explain that the same voters who ignored 60+ court rulings that the election was not stolen - and yet still believe it was stolen despite that history - will NEVER believe Dominion was not responsible for stealing the election from Trump.   And it follows that every red state election official will decline to commit political suicide by using Dominion and will take a pass on their services.     That proves a minimum forever 50% loss of potential business in a divided hyper political country.

That expert can come up with numerous examples of readily proven Trump lies that the mouth breathers continue to believe.   He or she can talk about the MAGA bubble culture - and how true believers are not allowed to seek information from any source save the sources that repeat Trump lies and defend him against reality.  MAGAts listened to Fox.   Fox catered to MAGAts and told them the lies they wanted to hear for ratings and profit.  I guarantee you there are internal Fox communications discussing the essence of MAGAts and what they had to say and do to keep them watching.

Let’s make GQP gullibility and stupidity  and refusal to accept facts a central theme of the damages phase. 

 

[Longhorn_Fan68 34108]

6 hours ago, aggie08 said:

Basically, the right would turn any forced disclaimer into the South Park "This program should not be viewed by anyone" in-joke. There's no getting to them that way. 

do it anyway. there may be a lot of lost olds out there, but we can warn the younger generation(s)

[Mdhorn 6166]

Prob should also go in the Tucker Carlson thread (if not already posted):

'Daily Show' Guest Hasan Minhaj Has Filthiest Explanation For Tucker Carlson

 

Minhaj said one behind-the-scenes message “truly freaked me out.”

It was a message from Carlson warning that viewers might leave for Newsmax if Fox News didn’t toe the Trump line and spread his conspiracy theories.

“He’s saying, ‘If I don’t say this bullshit, my viewers will leave me,’” Minhaj translated. “This whole time we thought Fox News was manipulating its viewers. But it turns out the viewers were manipulating Fox News.”

Then he offered up his explanation of Carlson’s behavior:

“Just think of it like this: Tucker Carlson is a moral vacuum. A hole, if you will, who glorifies election deniers. So, a glory hole. And his viewers expect him to please them with his mouth, and he’s constantly terrified that they’ll find a new, more satisfying glory hole. And that is why Tucker Carlson will never stop sucking.”

 

Just ruthless.

Edited March 1, 2023 by Mdhorn

[atomheartbevo 90674]

10 minutes ago, Mdhorn said:

“This whole time we thought Fox News was manipulating its viewers. But it turns out the viewers were manipulating Fox News.”

[Biff Tannen 46202]

2 hours ago, Mdhorn said:

“This whole time we thought Fox News was manipulating its viewers. But it turns out the viewers were manipulating Fox News.”

Eh, I don't know if I agree with this.  

It may have BECOME this, but Fox News and their lies for 30 years are what initially groomed (sorry) these people to believe in a fantasy world.  Much like the GQP used the rubes to further their power, now they have been taken over by the monsters and have lost control.  

Edited March 1, 2023 by Biff Tannen

[Gatorubet 30789]

37 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

  Much like the GQP used the rubes to further their power, now they have been taken over by the monsters and have lost control.  

“Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them.”

Barry Goldwater

[C-Man 27831]

3 hours ago, Mdhorn said:

Prob should also go in the Tucker Carlson thread (if not already posted):

'Daily Show' Guest Hasan Minhaj Has Filthiest Explanation For Tucker Carlson

 

Minhaj said one behind-the-scenes message “truly freaked me out.”

It was a message from Carlson warning that viewers might leave for Newsmax if Fox News didn’t toe the Trump line and spread his conspiracy theories.

“He’s saying, ‘If I don’t say this bullshit, my viewers will leave me,’” Minhaj translated. “This whole time we thought Fox News was manipulating its viewers. But it turns out the viewers were manipulating Fox News.”

Then he offered up his explanation of Carlson’s behavior:

“Just think of it like this: Tucker Carlson is a moral vacuum. A hole, if you will, who glorifies election deniers. So, a glory hole. And his viewers expect him to please them with his mouth, and he’s constantly terrified that they’ll find a new, more satisfying glory hole. And that is why Tucker Carlson will never stop sucking.”

 

Just ruthless.

Saw that last night. Vicious.

[Mdhorn 6166]

2 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

Eh, I don't know if I agree with this.  

It may have BECOME this, but Fox News and their lies for 30 years are what initially groomed (sorry) these people to believe in a fantasy world.  Much like the GQP used the rubes to further their power, now they have been taken over by the monsters and have lost control.  

Fox has been playing the hits though. On repeat. 

[atomheartbevo 90674]

3 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

Eh, I don't know if I agree with this.  

It may have BECOME this, but Fox News and their lies for 30 years are what initially groomed (sorry) these people to believe in a fantasy world.  Much like the GQP used the rubes to further their power, now they have been taken over by the monsters and have lost control.  

I think they started out leading the tiger, guiding it, but I think it's very accurate now - if they were to back off and take a moderate stance on things, their audience would leave, and Murdoch's and Fox News's testimony/legal filings in the lawsuit show that Hannity, Tucker, etc. were scared of losing their audiences.

Now, rather than leading the tiger, they are dealing with this: