Good morning.
One of the most high-profile defamation trials in American history is due to begin this week. Dominion Voting Systems, an election technology firm, is taking Fox Corporation and its TV network to court for $1.6bn, alleging that the media conglomerate pushed false claims that Dominion’s voting machines were rigged in the 2020 presidential election.
The trial had been scheduled to start today but overnight the judge announced a postponement. The delay reportedly coincides with a late push by Fox to settle the case out of court – but if that does not happen, the fate of this lawsuit will remain in the hands of the court.
There has already been plenty of drama and gossip in pre-trial motions. Rupert Murdoch, the CEO of Fox Corp, admitted he “would have liked us to be stronger in denouncing it, in hindsight”. And most staggeringly, in February and March, a cache of private emails and texts became public that seemed to reveal the true thoughts of those working at the rightwing news network at the time that the election lie was being aired. Tucker Carlson, Fox’s star host, called Donald Trump a “demonic force”. Sean Hannity, a close non-official adviser to Trump, allegedly said Trump was “acting like an insane person”. Even Murdoch got in on the action allegedly writing that it was “very hard to credibly claim foul everywhere”.
While that might look like the smoking gun that Dominion needs, the election technology firm still has an uphill battle to win the case. I spoke to Guardian US media columnist Margaret Sullivan about where this blockbuster trial could go and what it could mean for everyone involved – including other journalists and commentators. That’s right after the headlines.
Five big stories
Mental health | Research has found that a quarter of a million children with mental health problems have been denied access to relevant services, as the NHS struggles to cope with surging referrals and case loads. In some parts of the country spending per child is four times higher than in others and average waits for a first appointment vary by trust from 10 days to three years.
Sudan | At least 97 people have been killed and hundreds wounded as violent clashes spread across Sudan between the country’s military and main paramilitary force. The UN World Food Programme has said it is temporarily halting all operations in Sudan after the deaths of three employees in the Darfur region.
Labour | A glitch in the party’s main phone banking system has left the voting intentions of millions of people across the country at risk of misuse. A Labour party spokesperson said: “As soon as this question was brought to our attention, the system was taken down for investigation. The party takes the security of all personal information for which it is responsible extremely seriously.”
Police | A Guardian investigation has found that sexual misconduct and racism claims against police officers are proportionally higher in some English forces than at the Metropolitan police. The report also revealed the stark differences in the way different forces record complaints.
China | Leaked classified documents from US intelligence services suggest that China would probably be able to establish air superiority swiftly in any attack on Taiwan, with Pentagon analysis concluding that China’s air force would find it far easier than Russia has in its invasion of Ukraine.
In depth: ‘I don’t see it changing Fox at a cellular level – they are who they are’
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Why is Dominion suing Fox?
Lawyers representing Dominion are arguing that Fox employees acted with “actual malice” in airing the unsubstantiated claims that “Dominion voting systems somehow were responsible for rigging the election in favour of Joe Biden and causing Trump to lose”, Margaret explains. Dominion claims that Fox did not want to further alienate their audience which had started to turn to rival right-wing networks after Fox was the first to announce Biden’s win in the key state of Arizona on election night, producing numerous messages from Fox staff and executives to back it up. Tucker Carlson, for instance, sent a message to colleagues in response to a Fox reporter’s correction of Donald Trump’s voter fraud claims: “Please get her fired … It needs to stop immediately, like tonight. It’s measurably hurting the company. The stock price is down. Not a joke.”
“They were getting a lot of very negative pushback from their audience saying, basically, you’ve deserted the cause, and they began decamping from Fox to more conservative media organisations including One American News and Newsmax,” Margaret says. That creates a business motive for Fox to lie on air.
To stem the flow of disgruntled viewers, Fox hosts and guests began broadcasting a series of outlandish and disparaging claims against Dominion, including that they were using software that was made in Venezuela and had been used to swing elections for former president Hugo Chávez. Fox heavily featured Sidney Powell, who went on to work on Trump’s legal team. But even as she was making the claims on Fox News unchallenged, the network’s stars were messaging each other to disparage her. Carlson wrote: “Sidney Powell is lying by the way. I caught her. It’s insane.” He went on to say: “Our viewers are good people and they believe it.” Another star anchor, Laura Ingraham, wrote back: “Sidney is a complete nut. No one will work with her.” And even Murdoch referred to Trump’s claims as “really crazy stuff”.
This is a central part of Dominion’s lawsuit – that Fox made these claims even though they doubted their validity or knew outright that they were false. The lawsuit includes 20 specific occasions that false claims were made on air but Dominion only needs a few of them to stick. This misinformation, Dominion claims, put their staff and business in danger, with bomb threats being sent to their offices and death threats being sent to employees.
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Could Dominion win?
Dominion has some very compelling evidence that could well tip the scales in their favour. “Some of the pre-trial filings suggest that it may not be so hard to prove that there was ‘actual malice’ because there are communications among executives and the talent that essentially say ‘we know the truth, but we don’t want to present that to our audience because it’s hurting us’,” Margaret notes. “I’ve talked to some lawyers who have said they’re astounded by the texts and emails that were available, and they were wondering why it was just sort of left out there for the picking.”
But it is not as clear cut as it may seem to a British onlooker. There is a good reason why defamation is so hard to prove in the US: media organisations are provided broad protections by both the first amendment and supreme court rulings that force plaintiffs to prove that the defendant knowingly spread defamatory claims. The high bar is there to give the press the freedom to report on high-profile figures or those with a lot of resources without fear of being gagged by legal challenges.
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What might happen to Fox?
Regardless of the evidence in Dominion’s arsenal, Fox’s attorneys may be able to successfully argue that they were just presenting newsworthy information to their audience about what other people were saying about the election. They have also argued that some of the hosts who disseminated the stolen election lie actually believed it, and still do, meaning that they were not acting with malice. While this argument could work, it also rests on the company admitting that its employees, who are supposed to tell the truth and keep their viewers well informed, are incompetent and unable to sift fact from fiction, and that the network’s executives are powerless to intervene to stop this from happening.
If Fox were to lose, it is unclear whether Dominion would actually receive the top line $1.6bn figure they are arguing for, but even if they did it would not put the network out of business. “It would be a big price tag, but they are a highly profitable corporation,” Margaret says. “It might make them and other highly partisan news organisations more careful, but I also don’t see it changing them at any cellular level. They are who they are.” And, crucially, Fox is still getting good ratings.
Even reputational damage only goes so far with Murdoch’s news network: “If your reputation is already one of being very rightwing, saying misleading things and being deeply ensconced in Trump-world then I don’t know that the reputation takes that big of a hit because we already know these things,” Margaret says.
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The bigger picture
Whatever the outcome of this lawsuit, it will not just impact Dominion and Fox – it also tests how big of a shield the first amendment is, what it covers and what it protects against. “This case is really important because it goes to the heart of what I’ve always held to be sacred, which is that our job [as journalists] is to inform the public and to tell the truth,” Margaret says, “and so when you see a case that’s about what happens, and the harm that’s done, when a media outlet does not keep that as its highest priority, the question that is left is: are we going to, as a society, insist on that or not?”
What else we’ve been reading
Sport
Football | Ollie Watkins led Aston Villa to victory against Newcastle 3-0 during their Premier League match at Villa Park. Arsenal lost their two-goal lead against West Ham in a surprising turn of events, with the match ending in a 2-2 draw. Manchester United climbed into third place after their 2-0 win against Nottingham Forest.
Gymnastics | 18-year-old British athlete Jessica Gadirova won her third gold medal at the European gymnastics championship, finishing with a total of 14.000 points. Gadirova’s teammate Alice Kinsella took silver and Romania’s Sabrina Maneca-Voinea secured bronze.
Football | Real Madrid defender Antonio Rüdiger was racially abused by fans after the team’s La Liga game at Cádiz, following their 2-0 victory against Chelsea. A video posted by Spanish media shows people hurling abuse and objects at Rüdiger after he went to the stands to give his shirt to someone in the crowd. Spanish football has been marred by incidents of racist harassment during and after matches this season.
The front pages
The Guardian’s Monday front-page lead is “Revealed: 250,000 children denied NHS help for mental health issues”. Grim news continues in the Daily Mail: “6,500 sex attacks in our hospitals” – the figure, it says, encompasses three years of reported assaults. The Daily Mirror has an investigation: “Vapes sold illegally to kids” – it continues, “Half of shops tested sell killer nicotine devices to girl of 13”. “Pressure grows on Sturgeon to quit SNP” – that’s the Daily Telegraph while the i has this mouthful: “Ministers pin hopes of end to nurses’ strikes on union splits over pay deal”. “Nurses warn strikes could last all year” says the Daily Express. “‘£1m a week’ NHS private ambulances” – a union blows the whistle on “shocking waste” in the Metro. “Bank of England considers urgent reform of deposit guarantee scheme” – the Financial Times wraps up our paper round today.
Today in Focus
Why are British audiences so out of control?
From fights at the Bodyguard musical to wild drunken antics at comedy clubs and even heckling at the opera, performers and theatre staff say crowds are getting out of hand. What’s going on?
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The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
Despite living in Cincinnati, Ohio for the last 32 years, Dafydd Jones describes himself as a “passionate Welshman”. Born in Wrexham, Jones moved around during his career as an IT troubleshooter, initially staying close by in Cardiff and England but eventually moving through Germany, Belgium, France, Switzerland and the Netherlands. The one constant throughout his 74 years however has been his Welsh roots and so, over the pandemic, he decided it was time to learn the language of his parents and home that he still holds so close.
“If I look on Duolingo, I could tell you, I’ve done something like 838 consecutive days of Welsh,” Jones says. His determination has meant that he is planning to move to “advanced” classes imminently. Jones now writes songs in Welsh and last summer, he even entered a Welsh essay competition and won: “I was delighted, and proud and all the rest of it.”
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Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day – with plenty more on the Guardian’s Puzzles app for iOS and Android. Until tomorrow.
• This article was amended on 17 April 2023. It was Gareth Thomas, not Gareth Edwards, who was interviewed by Michael Segalov.
