It would be fair if Rupert Murdoch sent Donald Trump a bill for $787 million, and it would be dignified for Trump to pay that bill. Unfortunately, neither of these things will happen.
Neither the plaintiffs from Dominion Voting Systems nor Fox News, who agreed to pay this compensation, are satisfied with the settlement, which reached half of the originally requested amount.
Millions of observers in the US and the world, who expected blood to flow from the Delaware Superior Court for at least a few more weeks, do not seem satisfied.
During that time, the drama of Trump contesting the results of the 2020 elections would be relived before the eyes of millions. The deceptions that started this process and ended in this way would flood into the public arena again.
Reckless disregard for the truth
Judge Eric Davis, who led the proceedings, said that the narrative about election theft "recklessly disregarded" the truth and was published with "actual malice", which should have been determined by the jury. However, the settlement was faster.
Millions of Trump's supporters are still convinced that the elections were stolen and that Trump should have spent another term in the White House.
Their leader expects them to think so because he intends to launch another presidential campaign and he counts on their votes.
That is why Trump should pay Fox News $787 million, because that would be the only punishment for trying to destroy the entire country and its democratic foundations.
It would be fair if Trump covered the cost of Fox's settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, because only such an astronomical figure would, perhaps, dissuade him from running again, and would present the new candidacy and the victory he expects as a triumph of everything he said and did at the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021.
Bitter sweet
“The settlement we negotiated accomplished two critical goals: allowing our employees and customers to move forward, and hitting Fox where it hurt most - its bank account”, said John Poulos, co-founder and CEO of Dominion Voting Systems in a commentary to The New York Times, describing the victory over Fox News as "bitter sweet”.
This has been the largest defamation settlement involving a media company. As such, it will go down in history because of the huge monetary penalty for biased and misleading media reporting, which has had severe consequences.
Money, however, has the power to determine not only a value but also its antipode - the harmfulness of a product of the mind, such as news.
The fact that Fox News published comments by Donald Trump and members of his team because it considered the president of the country (still in full capacity) to be a relevant enough source to publish everything he has to say, costs $787.5 million.
Part of the consequences of such reporting may have been included in the "cost" of defamation.
For example, the willingness of a large number of people in the US to believe these deceptions, to take action, and ultimately to try to prevent the handover of power, by storming Congress on January 6, 2021.
Tucker Carlson was fired - someone is to blame for the damage
Money goes further in its arbitration of the price of systematic deception and in its power to impose that someone must pay the price.
Sensational news that Fox News fired its star, Tucker Carlson, broke on Monday. He had already said the last thing he had to say on Fox News last Friday.
Fox News management knows well that Tucker Carlson is to blame for, if not for all, then for a large part of the company's $787 million sudden loss.
One of the most toxic media phenomena in history, the creator of the most dangerous conspiracy theories and hate speech, Tucker Carlson has become almost the equivalent of $787 million in losses.
On the other hand, the stock market estimated that Tucker Carlson was worth $590 million to his company because that was the amount of the loss that Fox Corp. recorded last Monday when he was fired (down 5.4%).
Does that mean that Tucker Carlson's share of Fox News' historic loss is only the difference between $787 million and $590 million, or some $197 million?
This is highly unlikely. It means that Fox News based its business position on the attitudes of millions of people and investors, as a company that broadcasts deception, uses fake sources, whose stars are gurus of conspiracy theories, racism, and hate speech.
Voters would not pay $11 for their beliefs
The answer he received through the court in Delaware is adequate, although hard to digest for admirers of democracy because its basic principles are effectively defended only by such financial tsunamis.
Donald Trump is certainly not going to offer to reimburse Fox News for the costs of the settlement, although that would be the ethical thing to do.
But he will continue to reap political benefits, even from such a failure of his leading media patron. If he were willing to test the strength of his policies, he would ask each of his November 2020 voters to pay $11 to the Fox News’ bank account, as that would be sufficient to compensate for the damage done to Dominion Voting Systems.
Trump would not ask for such a thing, and all those who voted for him in the previous elections still listen to him. They will continue to play this game of slander, conspiracy theories, and fake support for each other.
