Fact Checking a Claim That Fox News Says Its Programming Is ‘Entertainment,’ Not News

The claim is misleading.

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Popular Facebook page Occupy Democrats went viral with a post claiming that Fox News avoids lawsuits by claiming that “it’s NOT real news, but rather ‘entertainment.’”

This post has a seed of truth to it: Fox News host Tucker Carlson was sued for slander in 2020 by Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who sold the rights of the story of her affair with Donald Trump to the National Enquirer. Carlson claimed that McDougal attempted to extort money from Trump—though she never asked Trump for money or even approached him. McDougal sued, and in response Fox’s legal team argued that his comments “cannot reasonably be interpreted as facts.”

Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil—district judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York—heard the case and agreed, finding that “given Mr. Carlson’s reputation, any reasonable viewer ‘arrive[s] with an appropriate amount of skepticism’ about the statements he makes” and that “this overheated rhetoric is precisely the kind of pitched commentary that one expects when tuning in to talk shows like Tucker Carlson Tonight, with pundits debating the latest political controversies.”

“The Court concludes that the statements are rhetorical hyperbole and opinion commentary intended to frame a political debate, and, as such, are not actionable as defamation,” wrote Vyskocil in her ruling.

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  1. Avatar photo
    Xsearnold

    It seems to me that a judge should be able to properly assess a statement as being rhetorical hyperbole ("on the payroll of the Kremlin") or an assertion of fact ("attempted to extort money"). Just because a talk show host engages in hyperbole, this doesn't mean that ALL of the statements made are hyperbole. What good are all these laws, lawyers and judges if they can't even make this simple distinction?

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    The Bell Tower

    What concerns me is the slander against wrestling. We always knew it was fake but we never stopped watching.

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  3. Kevin Brady

    I can see I'm not alone that my first thought was, "Wait, 'Occupy Democrats' is still a thing?" Are they really "popular"?!

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    Aylene Wright

    Thanks for the clarification on this. Although ironically the Occupy Democrats could claim they are just using hyperbole themselves.

    But, there probably should be a disclaimer / disclosure added to this:

    "Fox News is currently facing a defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems, which alleges that Fox’s coverage of the 2020 election promoted baseless conspiracy theories about Dominion voting machines. While the argument that some of the coverage was opinion was part of the Fox legal defense, the network’s attorneys put forth the argument that sharing Dominion conspiracy theories was part of “neutral reportage” of allegations made by public figures and a “fair report” of legal proceedings."

    As from what Sarah recently mentioned on AO, the "network's attorneys" would include the HO(t)P aka Scott Keller, Esq. Though my impression was that he was only retained for this particular case, not that he's an in-house attorney.

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  5. Pzimm7778

    Then these newz/entertainment/sh*tshow programs should have to run a disclaimer at the beginning of them saying they are for entertainment purposes only and shouldn’t be confused as actual fact based news. MSNBC should have it on there all day and night.

    They are on a news channel. While most of us here realize how full of crap these prime time
    hosts are, not everyone is as crazy as we are and pays as close attention to the news as we do. I would think it could be reasonably believed that if a show is on a news channel, one should be able expect blatant falsehoods spewed for the sole purpose of entertaining the audience wouldn’t be happening and that there is at least a good faith effort to put facts in.

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  6. Emma

    I am very concerned that the judge think viewers of Tucker are reasonable viewers. These folks believe every damn thing he says. Lord help us these folks vote.

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  7. Avatar photo
    Bill Nelson

    Carlson does news analysis, not news. Fox only has a couple of actual news shows. Like CNN and MSNBC.
    Buyer beware. This is why I watch Bluey.

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    1. Avatar photo
      Mike B

      Bluey's dad is my hero.

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    2. Kevin Brady

      Bluey is so good! My kiddo loves it, and we just discovered it's available on Disney+. My wife and I love the accents, and it's great that the episodes are something like 8-minutes long.

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      1. Avatar photo
        Bill Nelson

        The neighbor is always referred to as “Lucky’s Dad” (his name is Pat). The best episode is Hammerbarn (Lowes on steroids). There are good lessons for children and parents, and it’s funny.
        “When you aren’t happy with what you have, somebody’s husband always gets it.”

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  8. Avatar photo
    Frank Lee

    Fox News admits it. CNN, NPR, NBC, CBS and NBC keep lying that they are news organizations.

    And ironically we get more real news from Fox News.

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    Xaveria

    I pretty much loathe Mr. Carlson, and I pretty much dug John Stewart. But at the end of the day, that was Stewart's defense too, every time he put something patently untrue and defamatory in front of the public.

    The problem is not that these people put out heated political commentary masquerading as news. It's that the public can't tell the difference and doesn't care to try.

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      rlritt

      I get what your saying but Jon Stewart is a comedian and his show was on the Comedy Channel. No-one turned it on expecting a news program. Whereas Fox News does call itself a news channel and Carlson is a commentator.

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      1. Avatar photo
        Bill Nelson

        “No-one turned it on expecting a news program.“
        Actually polls showed that a high % of younger viewers got their “news” from Stewart.

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        1. Avatar photo
          Bill B

          That just shows that young people are dumb. As a parent I could have told you that.

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          1. Avatar photo
            Bill Nelson

            We’re supposed to listen to the young people. Hilarious isn’t it?

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        Xaveria

        Carlson is a commentator, not a reporter. No one thinks he's giving an unbiased view. And maybe people didn't think Stewart was a reporter, but probably half the people I knew back then used him as their only source for the news.

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        1. Avatar photo
          Xsearnold

          In order for someone to comment on, or "frame," terms of a debate, they have to put forth factual assertions and not just opinions. And, regardless whether or not one thinks the view is biased or unbiased, this should not excuse the "commentator" from stating defamatory lies in the process of expressing an opinion.

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          1. Avatar photo
            Xaveria

            I agree. Stewart used to mischaracterize, selectively edit, or flat out lie about basic facts all the time. You should look up what some of his "interviewees" said about the hatchet job he did on them. I didn't have a ton of sympathy for them -- I would say to the screen, "You agreed to an interview? Have you not seen his show?" But normally, they had -- they just thought he wouldn't have ammunition against them. They didn't realize just how much spin you can put into a good editing job.

            Stewart would claim -- with some justice -- that that is the license of comedian and an entertainer. Carlson does the same thing, and though he deliberately hides that side of his schtick far more. He is an entertainer, he just doesn't say so until compelled to by a judge.

            The point isn't to justify or condemn either of them, though. For each of those shows, hundreds of thousands of people watched their shows completely uncritically. We are the problem, not the people we pay to tell us what we want to hear.

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          Bill B

          "No one thinks he's giving an unbiased view"? Whether they think it or not - and I doubt there's a lot of thinking going on in that crowd - they believe it.

          Stewart hosted a comedy show and anybody using him as a source for news just wasn't coloring with a full box of crayons. What he was good for were laughs, quotes and one-liners.

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        3. Emma

          I disagree. The folks I know who watch him think he is second to Jesus himself. It is quite scary.

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          rlritt

          I think your right but a lot of people tuning into him probably don't realize the difference. His special about the rigged election was done very seriously so I'm sure most people believed him.

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  10. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    Karen McDougal - you mean Stormy Daniels?

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