The HBO drama ¡°Succession¡± might be a fictional corollary to the machinations of Rupert Murdoch¡¯s Fox empire. But when it comes specifically to Fox News, ¡°The Righteous Gemstones,¡± an HBO show about a family managing its skeevy, sprawling, megachurch business may be a more apt model.
U.S. court documents in the $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox reveal communications in which Fox News executives privately parsed the propaganda that is the network¡¯s stock in trade. In defending itself, Fox has taken the tack that flagrant lies about Dominion were newsworthy, and thus spreading the falsehoods via Fox was all in a day¡¯s work in the news biz. Mistakes, however, were made. Fox Chairman Rupert Murdoch, eager to play the role of a newsman who cares about facts (and is protected by the First Amendment), testified: ¡°In hindsight, I would have liked us to be stronger in denouncing¡± the lies.
The fundamental issue that pervades the discussions among Fox executives is this: How much lying is too much? And how much is too little?
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