Fox News preparing to be sued for spreading Covid-19 misinformation

[Supersonic 49,376]

Just over a week ago, former Fox Business host Trish Regan parted ways with the network, ostensibly because she called the coronavirus melee “yet another attempt to impeach...demonize, and destroy the president.” That the comments, which mirrored those of nearly every other Fox host at the time, would result in her termination seemed disproportionate, and last week a member of Fox Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch’s front office told the Daily Beast that Regan represented “a sacrificial lamb”—a scapegoat for critics who lampooned the network for dangerously misinforming its viewers about a deadly pandemic. Regan’s ouster failed to achieve this goal, and according to new reports, Fox is now lawyering up, bracing for a litany of public-interest lawsuits and letters of condemnation for pedaling misinformation for weeks prior to coronavirus’s explosion in the U.S.

During a Sunday appearance on MSNBC, my colleague Gabriel Sherman said Fox insiders had expressed “real concern...that their early downplaying of the coronavirus actually exposes Fox News to potential legal action by viewers who maybe were misled and actually have died from this.” He went on to say that while the Murdochs are “privately taking coronavirus seriously”—Rupert Murdoch quietly cancelled his 89th birthday party on March 11—top hosts like Regan and Sean Hannity were actively “telling viewers that it’s a hoax...If it actually winds up being proved that people died because of it, this is a new terrain in terms of Fox being possibly held liable for their actions.”

A number of public opinion surveys suggest Fox succeeded in swaying the perception of coronavirus among its viewers. Despite COVID-19 deaths mounting to more than 10,000 in the U.S., and case numbers here surpassing 350,000, 79% of Fox News consumers who responded to a Pew Research survey last week believe the media “slightly or greatly exaggerated the risk of the pandemic.” In contrast, just 35% and 54% of MSNBC and CNN viewers, respectively, say press coverage was overstated. A mid-March poll conducted by Survey 160 and Gradient Metrics poll revealed that Americans who tune into Fox News are more likely to ignore Centers for Disease Control advisories to stay at home than both non-Fox-watching Republicans and Democrats.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/04/fox-news-prepares-coronavirus-misinformation-lawsuits/amp

[ShayCristoforo 10,607]

Fair. Mass misinformation leads to mass "mistakes". And these kinds of mistakes can be so costly, even fatal at this time. 

[TimisaMonster 31,073]

You listen to your fearless leader Trump...you get burned 

[ANVEEROY 65,231]

[GaGaAst 13,124]

K for Karma

[sethrb101 4,523]

As they should

[Guest]

Its about damn time they’re viewers realize that Fox uses their fear against them. These evil people will spew anything to further their regressive agenda.

[Thomas P 18,479]

Rightfully so. It's dangerous to spread misinformation

[raragaga 8,119]

good

[DeleteMyAccount 11,881]

As should every minority group in the country...

[Franch Toast 27,737]

Hallelujah!

[mister max 18,480]

And I oop-

[TEETHTEETH 1,806]

it's what she deserves