Fox News agreed to settle a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million. CBC's David Common talks to U.S. media journalist Brian Stelter and CBC Washington correspondent Katie Simpson about the potential implications.
NEW YORK β Days after Fox News agreed to pay nearly $800 million to settle a lawsuit over its airing of 2020 election lies, you'd be hard-pressed to notice anything changed there.
Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham led their shows Thursday talking about Hunter Biden, the president's son. Ingraham's show warned, "The left wants the government to be your only family." Hannity targeted familiar villains β Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Vice President Kamala Harris. Carlson mocked a speech on racial equity, saying it meant "that straight white men are bad."
Experts doubt the settlement will lead to much of a course correction in conservative media, save for a little less specificity to avoid future lawsuits.
So far, that's been the chief result of a Connecticut jury's verdict last year that Alex Jones must pay $965 million to parents of Sandy Hook school shooting victims, after claiming the 2012 massacre was a hoax and grieving parents were actors. Now Jones is more likely to keep names out of it, said Nicole Hemmer, a Vanderbilt University professor and author of "Partisans: The Conservative Revolutionaries Who Remade American Politics in the 1990s."
"It hasn't changed his conspiracy theories," Hemmer said. "He's just a little more careful about not saying legally actionable things."
Heading into the 2024 election, radio host Erick Erickson predicted more hesitancy in conservative media to embrace claims by former President Donald Trump or anybody in politics preaching election denialism. Fox's response will be most watched.
Fox is just as dominant among conservatives today as it was in the aftermath of the 2020 election, when Fox aired false claims that Dominion Voting Systems helped rig the election against Trump despite many at the network knowing the allegations were bogus.
Documents in the case exposed the fear within Fox that it would lose viewers if the network didn't tell Trump fans what they wanted to hear.
"This is what happens when money becomes more important than honest information,"Β former Fox personality, Bill O'Reilly, wrote after the settlement. His own experience shows there was reason to be afraid: He lost more than 1,000 premium subscribers to his website after telling them the election results wouldn't be overturned.
Fox's followers seemed more upset with the election reporting than with the lawsuit's revelations that those at the network didn't believe the fraud charges and expressed private disdain for Trump.
There's been little noticeable change in Fox's television ratings in the past few months. In March, Fox's website had 88.7 million unique visitors, marking its fourth straight month of double-digit gains, said Howard Polskin, whose website The Righting monitors conservative media.
Most conservative websites either ignored the Dominion lawsuit or gave it cursory coverage, he said.
Criticism of Fox wouldn't matter much to its followers unless it was made by someone who shared their ideology. For the bulk of Fox's audience, the settlement will be quickly forgotten β if it was followed at all, said Megan Duncan, a Virginia Tech communications professor who studies news audiences.
That audience made Fox the leading cable television network for several yearsΒ β so profitable, it is able to absorb the $787 million Dominion settlement as a cost of doing business.
Fox still has a pending defamation lawsuit by Smartmatic, another elections technology company.
Dominion also has a case against Newsmax, Fox's chief television rival for a conservative audience. Newsmax insists its case is different and that it has better protections against defamation than Fox did.
If Newsmax is wrong, a financial judgment could cripple or kill the smaller media company, Hemmer said. "Fox would absolutely go after that audience," she said.
Fox soon faces crucial negotiations with three large cable companies β Comcast, Spectrum and Cox β over carriage fees, the amount they will pay to Fox for the right to offer the network on their systems, said Angelo Carusone, president of Media Matters for America, a left-leaning media watchdog group.
Ever since an advertiser boycott against former Fox personality Glenn Beck, Fox concentrated on boosting carriage fees. It succeeded: Fox would have a 35% profit margin even if it had no advertising revenue, he said.
That makes it important for Fox to illustrate to these companies that it has a large, valuable audience that can be counted on to be loyal at a time when people are cutting cable service.
Fox could use the conclusion of the lawsuit to build up its news operation, which lost personalities such as Chris Wallace and Shepard Smith in recent years, said Chris Stirewalt, an executive Fox fired after the ultimately correct decisionΒ to call Arizona for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on election night in 2020.
Fox said this past week that it increased its investment in journalism by more than 50%.
"Being a news organization is expensive and dangerous," said Stirewalt, now political editor at NewsNation. "Not just expensive because you have to pay to get news but also, expensive because you can lose your audience because sometimes you have to tell them what they don't want to hear."
It could be easier, and good business, to double down on programming that appeals to the attitudes and emotions of viewers, he said.
"I think they've backed themselves into a corner, and that corner is full of Trump supporters," Hemmer said. "That is the business model."
May 18, 1971
Jerry Mosey
Roger Ailes, shown in his office, May 18, 1971, New York. Ailes devised the highly successful "man in the arena" television appearances for President Richard Nixon in 1968. He believed that when the time comes he will be asked to resume full-time duties as Nixon's television consultant in the 1972 campaign. Meanwhile, he remained a part-time consultant to the president for special projects, as well as having returned to television production. (AP Photo/Jerry Mosey)
FILE - In this Aug. 17, 1988 file photo, Vice President George H.W. Bush, left, gets some advice from his media advisor, Roger Ailes, right, as they stand behind the podium at the Superdome in New Orleans, La., prior to the start of the Republican National Convention. Fox News said on Thursday, May 18, 2017, that Ailes has died. He was 77. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
Campaign advisers for presidential hopefuls Vice President George H.W. Bush and Michael Dukakis, chat before a private meeting in Washington, D.C., to discuss the candidates' debate schedule, Aug. 30, 1988. From left are: Dukakis campaign manager Susan Estrich; Bush media adviser Roger Ailes; Bush adviser Bob Goodwin; Dukakis campaign chairman Paul Brountas and Bush campaign manager James Baker III. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
Media consultant Roger Ailes is shown backstage at the debate between New York Mayoral candidates David Dinkins and Rudolph Giuliani in New York, Nov. 4, 1989. Ailes is Giuliani's adviser. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)
Actor/comedian Charles Grodin, posing before a CNBC-TV banner, is introduced as the cable television station's new primetime host in New York on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 1994, replacing Tom Snyder's talk show. The "Charles Grodin" program will feature Grodin in conversation with a wide rang of personalities and will debut in January 1995. At right is Roger Ailes, president of CNBC. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler)
Roger Ailes, left, answers questions at a New York news conference after it was announced he was named chairman and CEO of News Corp.'s 24-hour all news television service, Tuesday Jan. 30, 1996. Ailes will also serve as senior adviser to Rupert Murdoch, right, Chairman and CEO of The News Corporation Limited. Ailes, most recently president of CNBC, will assume his duties Feb. 5, 1996. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
FILE - In this Jan. 30, 1996 file photo, Roger Ailes, left, speaks at a news conference as Rupert Murdoch looks on after it was announced that Ailes will be chairman and CEO of Fox News. 21st Century Fox said Thursday, July 21, 2016, that Ailes is resigning immediately. Murdoch will assume the role of Chairman and acting CEO of Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
Roger Ailes, left, chairman and CEO of Fox News Channel, and reporter Dick Oliver of Good Day New York, stand outside Fox News Channel headquarters in New York Monday, Sept. 15, 1997. The Fox channel debuted in New York Monday on Time Warner Cable. (AP Photo/Dan Klores Associates, Marion Curtis/DMI)
Roger Ailes, media Consultant to George Bush and Rudolph Giuliani pictured at conference of Radio 7 TV News Directors in New York City, Oct. 13, 1989.(AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler)
Chairman and CEO of Fox News Channel Roger Ailes, right, smiles at Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., during a news conference at Morgan State University, in Baltimore, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2003, where they announced that the Congressional Black Caucus will partner with Fox news to host two presidential debates. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)
FILE- In this file photo from Monday, July 24, 2006, Roger Ailes, chairman and chief executive officer of Fox News, speaks during the Summer Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif. According to court documents cited in a news report on Friday, Feb. 25, 2011, Ailes told a former publishing executive to lie to federal investigators vetting ex-New York police commissioner Bernard Kerik for a Cabinet post in 2004. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
Roger Ailes, Chairman and CEO of FOX Television Stations poses for a picture during the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame Awards in New York, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2008. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
In this photograph taken by AP Images for The Hollywood Reporter Roger Ailes, left, and Bill OReilly are seen at The Hollywood Reporter 35 Most Powerful People in Media event on Wednesday, April 11, 2012 in New York. (Brian Ach/AP Images for The Hollywood Reporter)
Fox News president Roger Ailes, left, and son Zachary attend "The Great Gatsby" world premiere at Avery Fisher Hall on Wednesday, May 1, 2013, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2015 file photo, Roger Ailes attends a special screening of "Kingsman: The Secret Service" in New York. Ailes has signed a new contract to continue as chief executive of Fox News Channel, the network that has become a ratings and financial powerhouse since he started it two decades ago. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2015, file photo, Roger Ailes attends a special screening of "Kingsman: The Secret Service" in New York. In the summer of 2016, Ailes, who helped build Fox News into a ratings behemoth, departed the company following allegations of sexual harassment, and left with a $40 million severance. Ailes was chairman and CEO of Fox News, and with Bill OβReilly as a high-profile host, pushed it to become the most-watched U.S. cable-news channel. O'Reilly is now out at Fox and is reportedly in line to get up to $25 million following his ouster amid allegations of sexual harassment. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
Fox News Channel creator Roger Ailes diedΒ May 18, 2017, at age 77. Here's a look back at his career in photos.
May 18, 1971
Jerry Mosey
Roger Ailes, shown in his office, May 18, 1971, New York. Ailes devised the highly successful "man in the arena" television appearances for President Richard Nixon in 1968. He believed that when the time comes he will be asked to resume full-time duties as Nixon's television consultant in the 1972 campaign. Meanwhile, he remained a part-time consultant to the president for special projects, as well as having returned to television production. (AP Photo/Jerry Mosey)
Aug. 17, 1988
Ron Edmonds
FILE - In this Aug. 17, 1988 file photo, Vice President George H.W. Bush, left, gets some advice from his media advisor, Roger Ailes, right, as they stand behind the podium at the Superdome in New Orleans, La., prior to the start of the Republican National Convention. Fox News said on Thursday, May 18, 2017, that Ailes has died. He was 77. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
Aug. 30, 1988
Ron Edmonds
Campaign advisers for presidential hopefuls Vice President George H.W. Bush and Michael Dukakis, chat before a private meeting in Washington, D.C., to discuss the candidates' debate schedule, Aug. 30, 1988. From left are: Dukakis campaign manager Susan Estrich; Bush media adviser Roger Ailes; Bush adviser Bob Goodwin; Dukakis campaign chairman Paul Brountas and Bush campaign manager James Baker III. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
Nov. 4, 1989
Peter Morgan
Media consultant Roger Ailes is shown backstage at the debate between New York Mayoral candidates David Dinkins and Rudolph Giuliani in New York, Nov. 4, 1989. Ailes is Giuliani's adviser. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)
Nov. 15, 1994
Marty Lederhandler
Actor/comedian Charles Grodin, posing before a CNBC-TV banner, is introduced as the cable television station's new primetime host in New York on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 1994, replacing Tom Snyder's talk show. The "Charles Grodin" program will feature Grodin in conversation with a wide rang of personalities and will debut in January 1995. At right is Roger Ailes, president of CNBC. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler)
Jan. 30, 1996
RICHARD DREW
Roger Ailes, left, answers questions at a New York news conference after it was announced he was named chairman and CEO of News Corp.'s 24-hour all news television service, Tuesday Jan. 30, 1996. Ailes will also serve as senior adviser to Rupert Murdoch, right, Chairman and CEO of The News Corporation Limited. Ailes, most recently president of CNBC, will assume his duties Feb. 5, 1996. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Jan. 30, 1996
RICHARD DREW
FILE - In this Jan. 30, 1996 file photo, Roger Ailes, left, speaks at a news conference as Rupert Murdoch looks on after it was announced that Ailes will be chairman and CEO of Fox News. 21st Century Fox said Thursday, July 21, 2016, that Ailes is resigning immediately. Murdoch will assume the role of Chairman and acting CEO of Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
Sept. 15, 1997
MARION CURTIS
Roger Ailes, left, chairman and CEO of Fox News Channel, and reporter Dick Oliver of Good Day New York, stand outside Fox News Channel headquarters in New York Monday, Sept. 15, 1997. The Fox channel debuted in New York Monday on Time Warner Cable. (AP Photo/Dan Klores Associates, Marion Curtis/DMI)
Oct. 13, 1989
Marty Lederhandler
Roger Ailes, media Consultant to George Bush and Rudolph Giuliani pictured at conference of Radio 7 TV News Directors in New York City, Oct. 13, 1989.(AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler)
Aug. 7, 2003
GAIL BURTON
Chairman and CEO of Fox News Channel Roger Ailes, right, smiles at Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., during a news conference at Morgan State University, in Baltimore, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2003, where they announced that the Congressional Black Caucus will partner with Fox news to host two presidential debates. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)
July 24, 2006
REED SAXON
FILE- In this file photo from Monday, July 24, 2006, Roger Ailes, chairman and chief executive officer of Fox News, speaks during the Summer Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif. According to court documents cited in a news report on Friday, Feb. 25, 2011, Ailes told a former publishing executive to lie to federal investigators vetting ex-New York police commissioner Bernard Kerik for a Cabinet post in 2004. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
Sept. 29, 2006
Jim Cooper
Fox News CEO Roger Ailes poses at Fox News in New York, Sept. 29, 2006 photo. (AP Photo/Jim Cooper)
Oct. 21, 2008
Seth Wenig
Roger Ailes, Chairman and CEO of FOX Television Stations poses for a picture during the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame Awards in New York, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2008. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
April 11, 2012
Brian Ach
In this photograph taken by AP Images for The Hollywood Reporter Roger Ailes, left, and Bill OReilly are seen at The Hollywood Reporter 35 Most Powerful People in Media event on Wednesday, April 11, 2012 in New York. (Brian Ach/AP Images for The Hollywood Reporter)
May 1, 2013
Evan Agostini
Fox News president Roger Ailes, left, and son Zachary attend "The Great Gatsby" world premiere at Avery Fisher Hall on Wednesday, May 1, 2013, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Feb. 9, 2015
Charles Sykes
FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2015 file photo, Roger Ailes attends a special screening of "Kingsman: The Secret Service" in New York. Ailes has signed a new contract to continue as chief executive of Fox News Channel, the network that has become a ratings and financial powerhouse since he started it two decades ago. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
Feb. 9, 2015
Charles Sykes
FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2015, file photo, Roger Ailes attends a special screening of "Kingsman: The Secret Service" in New York. In the summer of 2016, Ailes, who helped build Fox News into a ratings behemoth, departed the company following allegations of sexual harassment, and left with a $40 million severance. Ailes was chairman and CEO of Fox News, and with Bill OβReilly as a high-profile host, pushed it to become the most-watched U.S. cable-news channel. O'Reilly is now out at Fox and is reportedly in line to get up to $25 million following his ouster amid allegations of sexual harassment. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)