I used to be an avid Fox News watcher and I particularly liked Bill O’Reilly. He was a moderating voice among more extreme voices at the station. At some point, I noticed that he was less than respectful to others on the show. His success, in my opinion, had made him arrogant, so I changed the channel. Sometime later, my observations seemed to be confirmed as he was forced out among sexual harassment allegations.

Fox serves an otherwise under-served market catering to conservative news watchers.  However, it seems that the network has moved from a news source to an advocacy outlet for conservatives. Shaun Hannity campaigned for Trump. Imagine Walter Cronkite or David Brinkley on the campaign trail. It never could have happened in an age of the fairness doctrine. 

In a summary judgment, the Superior court in Delaware acknowledged that Fox News did engage in disingenuous reporting even though they knew the information they were reporting was not true. It became obvious that Dominion Voting had a strong case as they sued Fox for defamation.

I was sure looking forward to the trial, but Fox settled the action for $787.5 million just before it was set to begin. It is being reported that this settlement is the largest ever for a defamation suit, yet many are disappointed they will not see the Fox executives and anchors dragged through embarrassing testimony. The truth is that this trial was always headed for a settlement.

The Dominion Voting Company has annual revenue of $17.5 million. So, a judgement of the size it will receive will be a huge multiple of the value of the company. It is owned by a venture capital firm whose goal is to invest in young promising companies supplying them with the cash necessary to grow. In return, they look for a future payday. Their payday has arrived. Once the venture capital firm saw that it had a strong case and would probably win, it knew that by settling it would hit the jackpot. If they were to go to trial, even a win would probably have to go through a long appeal process that could take years.

As for Fox, the settlement will cost them about two thirds of the network’s 2021 net profit. That won’t sink it, but it is a significant blow. It still faces another suit from Smartmatic, another voting system company. Smartmatic is in the enviable position of having Dominion already having received a settlement.

For those of us who were hoping to see Fox’s dishonesty made public, it will happen for those who get their news anywhere except Fox. Those who only watch Fox will likely not see much coverage on their channel. Even if they do see some coverage, they will not become less loyal. Remember that this started because Fox fans wanted their station to produce news that favored their views not the truth.  It’s likely that neither blue nor red minds will change concerning Fox News.  

Jim Rohrer of Evergreen is a business consultant and author of the books “Improve Your Bottom Line … Develop MVPs Today” and “Never Lose Your Job … Become a More Valuable Player.” Jim’s belief is that common sense is becoming less common. Contact Jim at jim.rohrer2@gmail.com.