The conservative news channel topped the ratings again in February — and all of its hosts thus avoid the topic to keep it, experts tell TheWrap.
“The hosts in question should be extremely careful about them,” said Evan Neerman, founder and CEO of crisis PR firm Red Banyan. “While it remains to be seen whether Dominion has enough to prevail in court, Fox is hurt in the court of public opinion. My advice would be to refrain from even touching the topic of the 2020 presidential election and its integrity, strictly Avoid
Voting technology company Dominion filed its lawsuit against Fox in 2021, saying the company and its network falsely reported that its machines were rigged in the 2020 election to favor Joe Biden over President Donald Trump and amplified the claims made by their representatives.
Fox News hosts and guests “endorsed” false claims about Dominion, even though they knew they were not true, by Murdoch, the chair of Fox, which he effectively controls through a family trust. , which came to the fore in a statement revealed last week. Another filing from Dominion alleged that Fox News’ top talent – including Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jeanine Pirro and Maria Bartiromo – all knew the “stolen election” story was false, were privately horrified that Fox claims Was moving forward with and then proceeded to report them anyway.
“Dominion’s lawsuit has always been more about what will generate headlines than about withstanding legal and factual scrutiny,” Fox told TheWrap in a statement.
Michael Blaha, an entertainment lawyer and First Amendment expert, called Murdoch’s statement a “fatal blow” to any defense Fox News may have had, saying he would sue the network if it went to trial. He doesn’t see himself winning. He added that there is no upside in trying to explain this to the audience.
“The cat is out of the proverbial bag at this point,” Blaha said. “I would just tell them not to speak about it anymore, and to just shut it down, not do interviews and not defend what they said because it’s only going to make it worse in my opinion.”
Brittany Dobbins, an entertainment and employment attorney, said that the case and its fallout presented an opportunity for Fox to make an “ethical and legal shift in how it approaches journalism”. She recommended Fox News to “create new reporting standards for the company as a whole”.
Will allegations of reporting fake news deter Fox viewers? Neerman says there is no chance.
“Devoted fans of Fox aren’t going anywhere,” Nierman said. “Fox has a loyal base of viewers, and I do not expect that a significant number of them will decline because of this lawsuit. Fox should be concerned about the financial implications of settling this case or losing the lawsuit, and perhaps its current The audience is more concerned about moving into the outlets.
Tony Long, founder of Long Law Group, disagreed. “There is also a portion of Fox’s audience that sincerely believes they are being told the truth,” she said. “There are some members of the Fox community who will turn away and no longer follow him.”
But that assumes the matter has reached Fox News viewers.
“I think if you’re a viewer of Tucker Carlson – No. 1, Fox is not covering it,” Blaha said. “If you’re a dedicated Fox News viewer, you probably don’t even know about it. If you do, it’s definitely veered in a different direction. I think most people live Will be able to stay and move on. If they’ve already lost viewers, they’re not going to lose more because of this.
To the extent that viewers hear about the case and understand that it involves claims in the 2020 presidential election, they may be on Fox’s side. A 2021 poll by the Public Religion Research Institute found that 82% of Fox News viewers believed the false theory that the election was stolen.
“Mr. Trump famously said he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and get away with it, and his supporters and I think that’s something with Fox and these people,” Blaha said.
