Mediagazer: Fox spared its executives and hosts further embarrassment on the witness stand but the $787M settlement sets a benchmark for lawsuits from Smartmatic and others (Sara Fischer/Axios)

5:15 PM ET, April 19, 2023

Top News:

The Fox-Dominion settlement is the largest publicly disclosed one in a US defamation case yet; sources: Fox doesn't have to make an on-air correction or apology — The agreement brings an abrupt end to one of the most significant media cases in recent decades, one that hinged on false claims about a presidential election

Discussion: @tripgabriel, @justinbaragona, The Hill, Law & Crime, @aaronblake, The Intercept, NPR, Vanity Fair, @maassp, Media Matters for America, New York Times, Associated Press, CBS News, New Republic, The Verge, New York Times, @jakeadelstein, @donmoyn, @steven_strauss, @nickconfessore, @timobrien, @ryanvanvelzer, @tomfitton, @walshfreedom, @haldavis3, Poynter, Broadband TV News, @erikwemple, @alexpadilla4ca, @jamilsmith, @wilkowmajority, @mollyjongfast, @brianstelter, @tedlieu, @ron_fournier, Morning Shots, @davidfolkenflik, @lindyli, @bgrueskin, @macfarlanenews, @davidaxelrod, @waltisfrozen, @renato_mariotti, @farhip, @farhip, @claremalone, @bgrueskin, @bgrueskin, @erikwemple, @mattiweil, Reuters, @blowryontv, @brianklaas, @alfranken, @kbandersen, @tripgabriel, @lindyli, @pickardje, @maassp, @aaronblake, @froomkin, Los Angeles Times, CNN, CBC News, @heidilifeldman@mastodon …, @juddlegum@journa.host, Newser, @JoshuaHolland@mastodon.social, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, @Theoreticalb@mastodon.social, @heidilifeldman@mastodon …, Deadline, Rolling Stone, Slate, The Atlantic and PBS NewsHour

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

Fox News says its court settlement reflects its “commitment to the highest journalistic standards”, showing that not even court evidence of perfidy can shame it — When news of a possible settlement between Dominion Voting Systems and Fox News surfaced on Sunday night …

CNBC:

Fox Corp and its cable networks agree to pay $787.5M to Dominion Voting Systems to settle the defamation lawsuit over Fox's lies about Dominion's machines — WILMINGTON, Del. - Fox Corp. and its cable networks agreed Tuesday to pay $787.5 million to Dominion Voting Systems to settle …

Discussion: @semaforben, @sarafischer, CNN, New York Times, Bill O'Reilly, Fox News, NBC News, @semaforben, The Nation, @sarafischer, @therecount, @kbandersen, Mediaite, Wall Street Journal, Politico, @dicktofel, New Yorker, National Review, The Week, Axios, Reuters, ABC News, @gma, Financial Times, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, New Republic, NPR, @sullycnbc, @davewiner, @justinbaragona, Mediaite, Insider, @profgalloway, @d_arkin, @oliverdarcy, @brianstelter, @davidmwessel, Axios, @repriggleman, @oliverdarcy, @profgalloway, @dave_enna, @oliverdarcy, @justinbaragona, @joemillerjr, @yashar, @andykroll, @ericswalwell, @oliverdarcy, @juddlegum, @mattgertz, @michaelshermer, @jamesfallows, @jamesfallows, @tomtomorrow, @reedgalen, @davidamoyal, @jcheiffetz, @pourmecoffee, @brianstelter, Associated Press, @ndrew_lawrence, @adriennelaw, @dave_enna, @dave_enna, @dave_enna, @colmorrisdavis, @normeisen, @maxwelltani, @ronfilipkowski, @kenvogel, @leahmcelrath, @nazirafzal, @felixsalmon, @gabrielsterling, @adriennelaw, @ralstonreports, @robertpicardo, @davidafrench, @ijbailey, @johnjharwood, @grynbaum, @piyushmittal, @bendepear, @rachel_dz, @nycsouthpaw, @rispolimike, @bestforbritain, @tedkempcnbc, @yashar, @aidnmclaughlin, @b52malmet, Adweek, The Daily Beast, Fortune, Politico, CBS News, MediaPost, The Wrap, Slate, Crikey, Los Angeles Times, @joshsternberg@mstdn.social, Yahoo News and NBC News

Jack Shafer / Politico:

For Fox Corp., which ended 2022 with $4.1B in “cash and cash equivalents” on hand, $787.5M is a bargain to avoid more embarrassment and continue its sleazy ways — For the media mogul, the massive Dominion settlement fee is just the cost of doing business.

CNN:

Sources and the mediator detail how Fox and Dominion settled, after Dominion notified Fox that Rupert Murdoch and Tucker Carlson were among its first witnesses — Veteran mediator Jerry Roscoe was on a relaxing river cruise from Budapest to Bucharest celebrating his 70th birthday on Sunday when he received an urgent phone call.

Discussion: The Guardian, @marshallcohen, Semafor, @kira_lerner, @keitholbermann, @sarah_boxer, @marshallcohen, @oliverdarcy, @brianstelter and @srl

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Fox spared its executives and hosts further embarrassment on the witness stand but the $787M settlement sets a benchmark for lawsuits from Smartmatic and others

Discussion: CNBC, Washington Post, @frasermatthew, New York Times, Vanity Fair, New Republic, @katiephang, Bangor Daily News, @karolcummins, @jonathanlanday, The Hill, Deadline and Insider

Steven Monacelli / @stevanzetti:

[Thread] Wired writer Dell Cameron gets permanently suspended from Twitter after reporting on a person who claims he hacked Matt Walsh's Twitter account — WOW: @dellcam has been suspended by Twitter after reporting about the hack of Matt Walsh's Twitter account https://twitter.com/...

Discussion: Wired, @stevanzetti, @dell@journa.host, @justin_ling, @ryanlcooper, @ivanthek, The Right Scoop, @fishontherun2, @stevanzetti, @andyharless, @digiphile, @oneunderscore__ and @dell@journa.host

Jay Peters / The Verge:

Netflix upgrades its ad-supported plan, increasing the video quality from 720p to 1080p and the number of streams from one to two, starting in Canada and Spain — Netflix is making its $6.99 per month ad-supported plan a much better value. … Subscribers in Canada and Spain …

Discussion: CNET, Comic Book, MacRumors and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Nicholas Gordon / Fortune:
Netflix added 1.46M subscribers in Asia-Pacific in Q1 2023, out of a total of 1.75M, 100K in the US and Canada, 640K in EMEA, and lost 450K in Latin America

Discussion: Financial Times

Sarah Krouse / Wall Street Journal:
Netflix plans to ship its last red DVD envelopes in September 2023, after 25 years of mailing shows and movies to subscribers and paving the way for streaming

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Netflix plans a “broad rollout” of its paid sharing plan in Q2 2023, including to the US, after its Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain launch in February

Discussion: Music Business Worldwide, The Verge, The Streamable, The A.V. Club, CNBC, @tvgrimreaper, IndieWire, Screen Rant, Collider and Adweek

Reuters:
Netflix Q1: revenue up 4% YoY to $8.16B, 1.8M paid net additions, vs. 2.06M est. and -0.2M in Q1 2022, and global streaming paid memberships up 5% YoY to 232.5M

Discussion: Insider, Insider Intelligence, @lucas_shaw and @itzjoshuajake, more at Techmeme »

Rosa Flores / CNN:

County official Mark Jennings resigns after an Oklahoma newspaper released audio allegedly of him and others talking about killing journalists and Black people — An Oklahoma county commissioner allegedly heard on a recording of local officials that included remarks about lynching Black people and killing journalists has resigned.

Discussion: Associated Press, @sankalots, Fox News, NPR and The Guardian

Liam Scott / Voice of America:
Oklahoma's governor calls on four officials to resign after a newspaper released audio of the group talking about killing journalists and lynching Black people

Washington Post:

An analysis of Google's C4 dataset, a snapshot of 15M websites used to train LLMs, shows that half of the Top 10 sites were news outlets like The New York Times — AI chatbots have exploded in popularity over the past four months, stunning the public with their awesome abilities …

Pew Research Center:

December 2022 survey: 49% of US adults listened to a podcast in the past year; 87% of those who hear news discussed on podcasts expect it to be mostly accurate — About half of Americans have listened to a podcast in the past year, and most of those listeners come across news content

Discussion: RADIO ONLINE, New York Post, @pewresearch, @pewresearch, @douglesmerises, @kenvogel, @katmatsa, Hot Pod News, American Press Institute, @pewresearch, Axios and Podnews

Max Goldbart / Deadline:

Fremantle UK names Amelia Brown as its new CEO, replacing Simon Andreae, who stepped down earlier this week after misconduct complaints and two investigations — Fremantle UK has named departing Thames boss Amelia Brown as its new CEO just days after Simon Andreae stepped down following misconduct complaints.

Discussion: The Wrap, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter

Charlotte Klein / Vanity Fair:

How Bellingcat researcher Aric Toler helped The New York Times identify Jack Teixeira, the Air National guardsman charged with leaking classified Pentagon docs — The Times publicly identified the man believed to have leaked intelligence documents before law enforcement did.

Discussion: @arictoler, @vanityfair, @arictoler, @vanityfair, @trbrtc, @runasand, @matthewkeyslive, @arictoler and @arictoler

Rebecca Pettingill / Columbia Basin Herald:

Washington's legislature passes a bill giving a tax break to newspapers and websites that grew from newspapers; the bill awaits Governor Jay Inslee's signature — OLYMPIA - Senate Bill 5199, a measure that gives a tax break for newspaper publishers, passed the Washington House of Representatives 89-7 Monday.

Discussion: @andersem and @dankennedy_nu@journa.host