OPINION Fox pays $787 million: a small price for defaming American democracy

Commentary

By Tim Woolard Contributor

On Jan. 6, 2021, when rioters forced their way into the U.S. Capitol to halt the certification of a fair and free election, they donned campaign T-shirts, chanted slogans, swore oaths, waved flags, raised signs and told lie after lie. Of course, some rioters did not realize they were lying — they were only imitating what they had seen on TV. Over two years later, we are finally beginning to see media outlets like Fox News punished for pushing “The Big Lie.” There was no doubt that Fox had defamed Dominion Voting Systems; that did not require a trial. That Fox had spread these lies with “actual malice” was abundantly clear to its own legal team, who agreed last Tuesday to settle for over $787 million rather than to stand before a jury. So, the malice was real, but who was the target? Was Fox’s intention to tarnish the reputation of Dominion or of American democracy itself? If it were the latter, then $787 million would amount to less than a slap on the wrist. And while this sum certainly represents a windfall for Dominion, which earns approximately $40 million a year, and a temporary setback for Fox, which generates $4 billion a quarter, for average Americans, it will not automatically restore faith in the American democratic system. It will not deter news outlets from manipulating them.

It was not too long ago that the ultimate form of radical patriotism was not to attempt to destroy American democracy — as some of those insurrectionists may believe — but rather to fight overseas to spread it. When I was a kid, my mother put on the local news each morning, and as I ate breakfast and prepared for school, I watched tanks roll through the streets of Baghdad and heard words exalting our brand