[ad_1]
NEW YORK, May 5 (AP) — Fox News is opposing renewed efforts by three news organizations to unseal documents related to its recently settled defamation lawsuit, saying it will only “satisfy private grievances or fuel a public scandal.”
The Associated Press, The New York Times and National Public Radio earlier this week asked a Delaware judge to disclose most of the private text messages and conversations between Fox employees shortly after the 2020 presidential election, which were posted at the Dominion Voting Systems disclosed during the proceedings.
Fox attorney Katharine L. Mowery said in a letter to Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis that was accepted by the court on Thursday that its Much of the material sought by competitors has nothing to do with litigation issues.
Some of Dominion’s extensive collection of evidence has been released and proved newsworthy, showing that Fox hosts and executives did not believe the false allegations about Dominion’s voting devices but continued to air them. Several messages have revealed former Fox host Tucker Carlson’s disdain for former President Donald Trump, including a text message in which he declared “I hate him so much.”
“They’re not shy about sharing communications with those most likely to make headlines,” Mowery wrote of media questions about the sealed documents.
One of the reasons Fox agreed to settle the case was “in exchange for peace and an end to media spectacle,” she wrote.
David McGraw, senior vice president and deputy general counsel at The New York Times, said the newspaper was disappointed by Fox’s continued opposition.
“Fox’s lawyers argue that unsealing court documents would damage journalism and undermine the First Amendment, when in reality the best interests of the public and journalism are served by judicial transparency, not secrecy,” McGraw said.
Lucy Dalglish, dean of the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill School of Journalism, said that while it’s standard practice for journalists to want as much information as possible to be made public, it’s no surprise that Fox wanted to keep it private.
“I would be shocked if Fox said, of course, let me give it to you, have fun,” Dalglish said.
Fox may be concerned that some of the hidden information could become fodder for other legal actions, and will not release it unless there is a court order, she said. Fox said much of the material was redacted because it contained proprietary information about the company.
The material’s continued relevance was evident this week when a Times article cited a racist text message from Carlson saying that beating up protesters by a group of Trump supporters was “not how white people fight.” The newspaper suggested that the news may have played a role in Fox’s decision to fire Carlson last week.
His writing is part of a cache of Dominion documents that have been kept secret from the public. The Times said the text was disclosed during interviews with several people close to the defamation suit. Fox’s attorney cited the story in a letter to Davis.
Mowery noted that Dominion’s lawsuit has come to a conclusion, but lawyers for the news organization said that doesn’t mean their request to unblock the information is moot.
It is unclear when Davis will take office. He has cited the settlement as a reason to end the investigation he ordered against Fox, which failed to present certain evidence in the case.
Fox agreed to pay $787 million last month to settle the case. Dominion has accused the network of repeatedly spreading false claims that its voting equipment rigged the 2020 election against Trump, even though they knew the claims were false. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
share now
[ad_2]
Source link