Fox News settles, will pay Dominion Voting systems $787.5 million, will not apologize on air

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 1. “Jake Angeli (Qanon Shaman), seen holding a Qanon sign at the intersection of Bell Rd and 75th Ave in Peoria, Arizona, on 2020 October 15.” Photography by TheUnseen011101 [pseud.], October 15, 2020, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Fox in a statement said the settlement reflected its “continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards. We are hopeful that our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, instead of the acrimony of a divisive trial, allows the country to move forward from these issues.”

Superior Court Judge Eric Davis had already concluded that Fox News and Fox Business did in fact broadcast false claims about Dominion, voiced by both network hosts and Trump associates. Fox in its statement acknowledged the judge’s findings. Fox News doesn’t have to make an on-air apology as part of the agreement, people familiar with the matter said.[1]

I think an argument can be made that it is precisely Fox News’ handling of the so-called “stolen election” story that is in significant part for the country’s failure “to move forward from these issues.”

Doug Arthur, an analyst at Huber Research, said the settlement total was higher than close observers of the case expected.

“This is a shocking number given the size of Dominion,” Mr. Arthur said. Though Fox has the cash on hand to pay it, “nobody can make light of an $800 million payout,” he said.

University of North Carolina law professor Mary-Rose Papandrea said the settlement was a major victory for Dominion.

“To my knowledge, the settlement dwarfs any prior settlement of a defamation action by several multipliers,” Ms. Papandrea said. She said the largest prior known agreement came in 2017 when ABC News parent Walt Disney Co. resolved defamation claims by Beef Products Inc. over a 2012 series of stories the network aired about its processed-meat product, which critics had called “pink slime.”[2]

Erin Mulvaney, Isabella Simonetti, and Joe Flint, “Fox News Defamation Trial Delayed Amid Network’s Push to Settle Dispute,” Wall Street Journal, April 17, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/fox-news-dominion-prepare-for-battle-in-1-6-billion-defamation-trial-fad2e9a6

Jeremy W. Peters and Katie Robertson, “Fox Disputes Possible Damages as Judge Delays Defamation Trial,” New York Times, April 17, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/17/business/fox-dominion-trial-delay.html

David Bauder, Randall Chase, and Geoff Mulvihill, “Lawsuit against Fox for false election claims heads to trial,” Associated Press, April 18, 2023, https://apnews.com/article/fox-news-dominion-lawsuit-trial-trump-2020-0ac71f75acfacc52ea80b3e747fb0afe

Erin Mulvaney, Joe Flint, and Isabella Simonetti, “Fox to Pay $787.5 Million to Settle Dominion’s Defamation Lawsuit,” Wall Street Journal, April 18, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/fox-news-dominion-defamation-trial-set-to-begin-d5c7293a

Jose Pagliery, “Trump’s Fake Georgia Electors Are Now Ratting on Each Other,” Daily Beast, April 18, 2023, https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-fake-georgia-electors-are-now-ratting-on-each-other


Pennsylvania and surrounding areas

Pittsburgh, the Ohio Valley, and surrounding areas

Pollution


Fig. 1. Photographer unknown, circa 1940-1950, from Smoke Control Lantern Slide Collection, ca. 1940-1950, AIS.1978.22, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh, via Bloomberg,[3] fair use.

Power plants are retired for many reasons, including no longer being able to compete in the market with more efficient resources. In Pennsylvania, the story for over a decade now has been that of one fossil fuel — methane gas — displacing another — coal.[4]

Jon Hurdle, “‘Green Steel’ would curb carbon emissions, spur economic revival in Southwest Pennsylvania, study says,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 18, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/business/powersource/2023/04/18/green-steel-curb-carbon-emissions-renewables/stories/202304170092

Joe Napsha, “Coal-fired Homer City power plant closing; future dim for 2 other regional facilities,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 18, 2023, https://triblive.com/local/regional/coal-fired-homer-city-power-plant-closing-future-dim-for-2-other-regional-facilities/


Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Infrastructure


Fig. 1. Post-collapse scene at the Fern Hollow Bridge, photograph by National Transportation Safety Board, January 29, 2022, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Hallie Lauer, “New design for Oakland’s Charles Anderson Memorial Bridge unveiled,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 18, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/transportation/2023/04/18/oakland-charles-anderson-memorial-bridge-construction-design-update/stories/202304180093


  1. [1]Erin Mulvaney, Joe Flint, and Isabella Simonetti, “Fox to Pay $787.5 Million to Settle Dominion’s Defamation Lawsuit,” Wall Street Journal, April 18, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/fox-news-dominion-defamation-trial-set-to-begin-d5c7293a
  2. [2]Erin Mulvaney, Joe Flint, and Isabella Simonetti, “Fox to Pay $787.5 Million to Settle Dominion’s Defamation Lawsuit,” Wall Street Journal, April 18, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/fox-news-dominion-defamation-trial-set-to-begin-d5c7293a
  3. [3]Mark Byrnes, “What Pittsburgh Looked Like When It Decided It Had a Pollution Problem,” Bloomberg, June 5, 2012, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-06-05/what-pittsburgh-looked-like-when-it-decided-it-had-a-pollution-problem
  4. [4]Robert Routh, quoted in Joe Napsha, “Coal-fired Homer City power plant closing; future dim for 2 other regional facilities,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 18, 2023, https://triblive.com/local/regional/coal-fired-homer-city-power-plant-closing-future-dim-for-2-other-regional-facilities/

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