LAW AND CRIME.COM
There has been some criticism, as perhaps you’ve noticed, over the way several Fox News programs, guests, and hosts have handled coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Vanity Fair Special Correspondent Gabriel Sherman sounded a vague alarm of liability days ago on MSNBC. But the truth is that suing Fox News over this is neither an easy nor likely successful task. Let’s start with what Sherman had to say: When I’ve been talking to Fox insiders over the last few days, there’s a real concern inside the network 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. I’ve heard Trish Regan‘s being taken off the air is, you know, reflective of this concern that Fox News is in big trouble by downplaying this virus and The New York Times reported days ago that the Murdoch family was privately taking the coronavirus seriously. The Murdochs, of course, own Fox News. So, they were taken personal steps to protect themselves while anchors like Trish Regan and Sean Hannity were telling viewers that it’s a hoax and putting themselves in potentially mortal danger. So I think this is a case where Fox’s coverage, 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.
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