A significant settlement or a slap on the wrist? Those hoping to see media mogul Rupert Murdoch take the stand will be disappointed by news of a $787 million settlement with Dominion, which sued Murdoch's Fox News over repeated false claims that its voting machines rigged the 2020 elections for Joe Biden against Donald Trump.
The payout is significant, but Fox makes plenty of money and the deal keeps any embarrassing coverage to a minimum. In fact, Fox News doesn't even have to air a right of reply. Does this mean baseless conspiracy theories can continue to feed programming all the way to Trump's bid to retake the White House in 2024?
The jury is still out: next comes a second lawsuit lodged by another voting machine maker, Smartmatic, for $2.7 billion. That case includes complaints against big personalities at the channel.
What consequences for the 92-year-old Murdoch, who's weathered outrage and scandal before, most notably with Britain's News of the World phone-tapping scandal?
More broadly, it's clear that opinion infotainment sells. When does it qualify as free speech and when as disinformation?
Produced by Charles Wente, Daphné Leprince-Ringuet and Imen Mellaz.
