Dominion Voting Systems has the Fox network dead-to-rights: They lied about the company, knew they were lying, but put the lies on the air to make money. Fox is going to pay Dominion a lot of money (but can afford to).
But now Fox is in another kind of hot water.
Biden’s campaign ran ads on Fox. And Rupert Murdoch, Fox’s owner, gave Jared Kushner “confidential information about Biden’s ads, along with debate strategy, providing Kushner a preview of Biden’s ads before they were public,” according to court filings in the Dominion case (see story here).
Why is that a problem? Beyond being dirty political pool? Let’s count the ways.
- They stabbed an advertiser in the back.
- Even if the Biden campaign doesn’t sue them for a refund and damages, other advertisers will see this and never trust Fox again.
- The Federal Elections Commission might well interpret Murdoch’s assistance to Trump as an unreported in-kind campaign contribution.
- That would trigger penalties against Fox for a federal law violation.
- It cements Fox’s reputation as a partisan advocacy organization with no business or journalistic ethics or integrity.
Why is it not much of a problem for Murdoch? Because he can afford what this will cost him, won’t go to jail over it, and the market for Fox’s pandering rightwing hackery will remain as big as ever. If Fox viewers could think, they wouldn’t be watching in the first place. And the impact on Murdoch’s personal reputation will be minimal, because everybody already knows he’s a slime merchant.