Mar
30
2021
Sunshine by the billions
Author: adminSometimes it takes more than the sun to brighten my day.
Case in point: Dominion Voting Systems filing a billion-dollar lawsuit against Faux Neus. What could be a better start of another 24-hours? That makes two Dominion court actions dealing with the 2020 election. The other is against Donny Trump. Personally.
The latest Dominion action also names Maria Bartiromo, Tucker, Lou, Sean and Jeanine Pirro.
Then, the sun brightened even more with yet another action involving DJT and friends. Smartmatic Corporation, also involved in the 2020 vote counting, opened fire against Faux for $2.7 billion. This one named a flock of co-defendants including Rudy, Sidney Powell and their cohorts on the network. Individually.
The latest Dominion suit alleges Faux “recklessly disregarded the truth” and participated in a disinformation campaign against the company because “the lies were good for Fox’s business.”
Further, “Fox took a small flame” of disinformation and “turned it into a forest fire.” Dominion claims “Truth matters. Lies have consequences.” “Fox sold a false story of election fraud in order to serve its own commercial purposes, severely injuring Dominion in the process. If this case does not rise to the level of defamation by a broadcaster, then nothing does.”
In the filing, the company claims, as a result of Fox’s “orchestrated campaign against it, Dominion suffered “enormous and irreparable economic harm” and its “employees have been subject to death threats.”
The Smartmatic filing is very similar in claims and naming the same individuals.
All government, and nearly all independent observers, have said, repeatedly, there was no evidence of widespread fraud in the presidential election. But, our friends at “Faux” have continually suggested Trump’s claims of “widespread irregularities” had merit.
I don’t know much about Dominion or Smartmatic. But, their direct challenges to Faux deserve recognition for going after the company and the individual liars. Demanding facts in news reports and facing down those that don’t adhere is the right thing to do.
We media folks make mistakes. God knows, I’ve made my share in nearly 50 years in the business. But, the unwritten rule has always been to admit the error, make a correction and move on.
I don’t see a lot of that happening these days. The blowhards at Faux Nues certainly aren’t interested in truth or facts. I don’t have a problem with commentary – political or otherwise – left or right. But, even in commentary, the facts matter. You can have your “bleeding heart” or your “righteous indignation” to a fare-thee-well. But, when the “truth train goes off the rails,” you’re wrong. Individually or corporately. And, Dominion and Smartmatic have decided to point that out. By the billions!
Media – all media – must be held to a higher standard than the rest of us. There’s just too damned much at stake these days. We’re inundated with information. And, a lot of it is false. B.S. While more is demanded of the sources, more is also demanded of the recipient to sift out fact and discard that B.S..
That’s tough to do, given the immense outpouring of information. It’s tough on both sides. The media’s high charge is to wade through all of it, separate “wheat from chaff” and publish. Quickly. Viewers/readers have a similar obligation to do their own separating. And, that’s a hard job when on the receiving end of daily info dumps.
It’s a damned shame to have to have two large corporations sue purveyors of false public information. But, their “target” has deserved a comeuppance for many years. Ol’ Rupert is pretty much out of the business these days. Faux is being run by a son or two. Since their entry into the picture, the place has veered further to the right. And, in some cases, beyond.
There are others out there in the media “sphere” manipulating the truth for their own ends. Beck, Jones, Medvid and dozens more. I’d like to think that, should the twin suits against the Faux folks be successful, they’ll read the damage awards and trim their own sails. I’d like to think it. But, I doubt it.
I’d like to think, facing billion dollar challenges, it’ll scare the others. It’s also to be hoped other companies and individuals will follow the Dominion/Smartmatic lead and go after purveyors of lies published under the banner of “good journalism.”
Dominion’s filing says “truth matters” and “lies have consequences.” Yes, they do. And, that includes the folks at Faux, too.