Fox Corp announced that it had lost $US50 million the previous three months,which it attributed to the lawsuit settlement. Murdoch,who answered questions from financial analysts,was speaking in public for the first time since the case ended and Foxfired its most popular anchor,Tucker Carlson. Carlson has just announcedhe is launching a new show on Twitter.
Murdoch said viewers,and investors,should expect no change in direction from Fox News.
“We made the business decision to resolve this dispute and avoid the acrimony of a divisive trial and multi-year appeal process,a decision clearly in the best interests of the company and its shareholders,” he said.
Fox still believes it was properly exercising its First Amendment rights to report on newsworthy fraud allegations made by former President Donald Trump,even though that defence was shot down in a pre-trial court ruling in the Dominion case,Murdoch said.
That’s important,since Murdoch said Fox intends to use the same defence against a similar lawsuit by another elections technology company,Smartmatic. That case is not expected to go to trial until at least 2025,he said.
Despite being asked directly about Carlson’s exit,Murdoch didn’t mention the former prime-time host’s name and referred to his reign obliquely. Fox has not explained why it cut ties with Carlson.