As someone who reported extensively on Fox News's high-profile settlement with Seth Rich's parents, I wanted to share a few observations about today's news.

The $787 million sum is massive.

This is a huge win for Dominion Voting Systems.

A win for truth? Not so much...

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Settlement agreements — even 11th-hour ones — usually emerge from many hours of grueling negotiations.

The dollar figure, public remarks, and what the plaintiffs & defendants can — and can't — say afterward is agreed to by all parties.

It's usually quite choreographed. 2/x

The $787 million Fox will pay as part of the settlement is hardly a rounding error.

But remember that law firms in cases like this often work on contingency. They get a cut of the settlement, likely 30 to 35%.

Ballpark: that's $250 million going to DVS's law firms.

3/x

Financially, this is a huge win for Dominion and its lawyers. Vacation homes will surely be purchased.

It's not THAT big of a hit for Fox News.

Parent company Fox Corp. reported revenues of $4.61 *billion* ... for the last three mos of 2022.

This is far from existential. 4/x

What's most frustrating — it's downright infuriating — about this outcome is how little accountability it demands from Fox News.

Fox's official statement — again, almost certainly agreed to by all sides — is a tutorial in spin.

Here is the full statement:

5/x

Fox doesn't admit it lied; it "acknowledge[s]" the court's ruling that it made false claims.

Fox spins the settlement as evidence of its "journalistic standards."

And it complains about the "acrimony of a divisive trial" — a line I'm shocked ever saw the light of day. 6/x

Here's the truly disappointing part:

Per @oliverdarcy & others, Fox News will not take corrective action ON-AIR for its mistakes.

Fox hosts won't be reading apologies or corrections.

That's a huge loss for truth — and a setback in the fight against misinformation... 7/x

@oliverdarcy Make no mistake:

Dominion & its lawyers did a real public service.

They unearthed and publicized emails, text messages, and other documents exposing Fox's inner workings and its shoddy 2020 coverage.

We know ~so much more~ about how Fox works now.

And we have this gem: 8/x

But it's hard to see how this result — without real public accountability — changes Fox's behavior.

Without an on-air retraction, correction, or apology, some Fox viewers probably don't know the settlement happened!

This gets at something the Rich family wrestled with... 9/x

The Rich family's lawyers asked this:

How do you calculate damages and design accountability in a way that helps repair the truth?

Put another way, what would it cost to, say, create and broadcast a media campaign that corrects a viral lie?

Here's what I wrote in my book:

That 👆 is what's missing from the Dominion settlement.

Surely, there are Fox viewers who, unaware of this suit and settlement, will continue to believe falsehoods that Fox spread about the '20 election.

Sadly, this suit won't show us new ways to correct viral falsities. 11/x

That's enough for now.

I'll weigh in as more details surface.

Lastly, if you want to read a page-turner of a book about viral lies, Fox News, and the people fighting for truth and decency, I'd heartily recommend my book, "A Death on W Street." 12/fin

bit.ly/sethrichbook

ADDENDUM:

Per @dealbook, the “biggest winner” of the Dominion may actually be … wait for it … Wall Street!

Turns out Dominion is part owned by private equity firm Staple Street, which will now see “a home-run return for the firm and its limited partners” post-settlement.