Libel claim against Fox News could be more important than Dominion's suit

In April, on the same day that the jury trial for Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against Fox News was set to begin, the two companies reached a $787 million settlement and the whole thing more or less went away. Under the agreement, Fox News agreed to issue a statement that was among the most non-apology apologies in history: “We acknowledge the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false.” Other than that, and a check amounting to about 5% of Fox News’ annual revenue, there was no penalty.

However, it was clear Fox Corp. owner Rupert Murdoch did not like writing that check. He was even more upset about having the company’s dirty laundry paraded in public by arrogant pundits who openly admitted they knew their shows were riddled with lies. So one week later, Fox News canned Tucker Carlson, the network’s most popular screaming jackass. Things at Fox then went back to the same level of lying as always, while Murdoch fumed about which racist to put into Carlson’s old time slot.

However, just because Fox News has made its way past one lawsuit doesn’t mean they don’t have more on their slate. In particular, the “fair and balanced” outlet is facing another lawsuit directly tied to the now-departed Carlson, one that could ultimately have more impact on Fox Corp. (and on the news media in general) than the suit involving Dominion. Because this one goes right to the core of the question of whether, in the age of conspiracy, libel still counts as libel.