Few things say more about the ridiculous amount of money there is in the world now than the $787.5 million settlement Fox “News” reached to settle its lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems.
That and the $500 million Amazon owner Jeff Bezos is spending on a 417-foot yacht.
When the Fox-Dominion lawsuit settled Tuesday for what sounds like a ridiculous amount of money, I’m sure there were plenty of people thinking that would cut the cable “news” channel down to size.
Well, maybe.
But if you’re thinking Rupert Murdock might have to scale down his lifestyle or any of his “news” crew won’t be able to buy new vacation homes, don’t get too excited.
The $787.5 million settlement is less that 20 percent of the money Fox has on hand. Get this straight — $4 billion is not the total value of the corporation. It’s the amount of loose change Sean, Laura or Tucker can find going through the sofa cushions.
In the end, Fox probably won’t even miss the money handed over to Dominion, although there are still other, bigger lawsuits still to come. But Fox’s version of the “news” business is hugely profitable, and that’s because it tells people what they want to hear no matter how ridiculous it is.
It’s indeed ironic that even though Fox did so much to help Donald Trump win support, and made him sound reasonable in his insane claim the 2020 election had been stolen, Trump is now ripping Fox “News” for not going the bridge too far with him. He loves Newsmax and the other lunatics because they don’t even pretend to have standards when it comes to truth or lies.
Fox has always been disingenuous when it comes to the way it presents material to its audience. The motto of “We report, you decide” sounds extremely honorable, but it’s a complete lie.
First off, reporting is by nature biased. No one, especially on television, can present all the relevant information with any issue, let alone all issues.
Second, the line between news and opinion isn’t always that clear. Regardless of what people say, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham don’t always come across as pundits. If you were to ask many of Fox’s viewers, they would tell you that the opinion the Terrible Trio are presenting as solid fact.
Actually, the relationship between Fox “News” and its viewers is sort of a chicken-and-egg thing. Are the viewers ignorant because Fox gives them inaccuurate “news” or does Fox do it that way because their viewers demand it?
Either way, we have a vicious cycle.
And there’s plenty of money to be made in America these days being vicious and dishonest.
Just ask that great American, Rupert Murdoch.