NEW YORK: A Delaware judge on Tuesday rejected a motion by the parent of Fox News Network to dismiss Dominion Voting Systems Inc's $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit over the network's 2020 presidential election coverage.
Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis, who last December said Dominion could sue Fox News Network, said the voting machine company can also sue Fox Corp on a theory it was directly liable for statements on the network.
Fox Corp did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In a statement, Dominion said: "We are pleased to see this process moving forward to hold Fox accountable."
Dominion accused Fox of trying to avoid viewer defections to conservative rivals Newsmax and One America News by amplifying false theories that the company rigged the 2020 election so Republican Donald Trump would lose to Democrat Joe Biden.
Some theories were floated by Trump surrogates like the lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, and included claims that votes were changed through algorithms created in Venezuela to rig elections for that country's late president Hugo Chavez.
In court papers, Dominion claimed that Fox Corp, through Chairman Rupert Murdoch and his son Chief Executive Lachlan Murdoch directly participated in, approved and controlled the network's election coverage and its aftermath.
Without ruling on the merits, Davis said the allegations permitted "reasonable" inferences that Fox Corp acted with malice and proximately caused Dominion's alleged damages.
"Dominion has adequately pleaded actual malice with respect to Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch," the judge wrote.
Davis dismissed a related defamation claim against another Fox entity, Fox Broadcasting, for posting the challenged statements on fox.com, citing a lack of evidence that anyone there was "subjectively aware of anything."
Smartmatic, another voting machine company, is also seeking billions of dollars in damages from Fox and various Trump allies it has accused of defamation.
The case is US Dominion Inc et al v Fox Corp, Delaware Superior Court, No. N21C-11-082.
Fox News parent must face defamation lawsuit over election coverage
https://arab.news/zvmfs
Fox News parent must face defamation lawsuit over election coverage
- Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis is pleased to see that the process of holding Fox accountable is moving forward
Arab News wins 7 prizes at European Newspaper Awards, led by 50th anniversary coverage
- Anniversary special coverage and film won four Awards of Excellence across multiple categories
LONDON: Arab News won seven prizes at the 27th European Newspaper Awards — four for its 50th anniversary coverage and three for other projects — bringing its total to 160 awards since the 2018 relaunch.
The anniversary coverage earned an Award of Excellence in “Supplement for special occasions and anniversary editions,” plus wins in “Multimedia storytelling” for its special web section and two in “Film” and “Animated films” for its documentary.
Additional honors went to the “Spotlight — 2024 in Review” and “Opinion — 2024” print series in the “Sectional front pages nationwide newspaper” category, and a “Visualization” prize for an image from “Opinion — 2024.”
Launched in 1999 by organizer Norbert Kupper, the awards celebrate print and digital innovation. This year’s contest drew newspapers from 22 countries and more than 3,000 entries across 20 categories, despite fewer print submissions due to rising editorial collaborations.
“It’s testament to the skill, versatility and collaboration between the creative and editorial teams at Arab News that the seven awards at this year’s ENAs spanned print, digital and film categories,” commented Omar Nashashibi, head of creative design at Arab News. “These wouldn’t be possible without the world-class contributors we partner with, and the leadership, vision and support of Editor-In-Chief Faisal J. Abbas.”
Creative Director Simon Khalil called the film wins especially meaningful. “This recognition means a great deal because this film was never just about marking an anniversary, it was about capturing a defining moment in the evolution of Arab News and the region it represents.
“Telling the story, and drama of the 2018 relaunch, the digital transformation, and the courage to become ‘The Voice of a Changing Region’ was both a responsibility and a privilege.”
Past highlights include the “King Charles III Coronation” special coverage, “Kingdom vs. Captagon” investigation and FIFA Qatar World Cup 2022 special edition.
See more award-winning projects at arabnews.com/greatesthits.
