Letters to the Editor: Dominion could have protected democracy. It took a cash payout from Fox News instead
To the editor: To say I am disappointed by Dominion Voting Systems' $787.5-million settlement with Fox News in its defamation lawsuit would be an understatement.
Here was our chance, probably our only chance, to finally put those phonies at Fox News on the stand, under oath, and force them to testify about the conduct for the world to see. With Dominion's pretrial grandstanding and vigorous campaigning, the public was led to believe that the voting machine manufacturer was going to show us all that the truth is worth fighting for.
What did we get instead? The coward's way out — "give us some money and we'll go away." Of course, Fox News will spin this to present itself as being in the winner’s circle.
Another day where the truth loses to a cash payout.
Tom DeSimone, Palm Springs
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To the editor: With its accommodation of disinformation having come to light, Fox News has shrugged off an epic legal setback, costing it nearly $800 million.
And why not, when its core audience never seems inclined to favor more credible news sources?
If the cable network's ever-faithful audience won't condemn false programming, then let's call its advertisers to account: Publish a list of businesses that continue to advertise on Fox News, so that all who prefer truthful news coverage can earnestly boycott them.
When Fox executives see the network's income stream decimated by a loss of advertisers, perhaps they will be more inclined to reject disinformation.
Betty Turner, Sherman Oaks
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To the editor: I wish the Fox News trial had proceeded and eventually been taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court so the justices could have the opportunity to reconsider the 1964 decision in New York Times Co. vs. Sullivan, which set an incredibly high bar for proving defamation.
While practically every news organization in the country will breathe a sigh of relief that they can continue to publish stories with near impunity, they might consider that the public's trust in their product would improve if they were forced to do a deeper fact-check dive before reporting.
Patrick Mattimore, San Francisco
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To the editor: Bravo to columnist Jean Guerrero for pointing out that Fox News has done significant damage to our society.
I have wondered why Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch dislikes our country so much that he lets his media outlets bombard Americans with outright lies. The revelations produced by Dominion show it's all just business and profit for Fox News, with no thought given to the social impact of this blatant corruption of the term "free press."
I'm reminded of a quote often misattributed to Karl Marx: "Capitalism tends to destroy its two sources of wealth: nature and human beings."
Margaret Hamilton, Portland, Ore.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
