The Fox News syndrome  lives on in Panama

The electoral technology company Dominion Voting Systems reached an out-of-court agreement with Fox News and Fox Corp. after they accused it of fraud in the elections in which Donald Trump lost to the current president of the United States, Joe Biden. Although Dominion was asking for $1.6 billion for damage done to its reputation, the settlement was for almost half. This process was interesting for the media, including the local ones, because it was a civil trial, not a criminal one, and because the plaintiff company was able to prove that the network – an open supporter of Trump – knew that it was disclosing false information, as part of the narrative created about a non-existent electoral fraud. That is to say, the chain acted with malice, a requirement in the United States to condemn a medium. In our country, most judges do not consider real malice in their sentences, despite the fact that it is applicable in Panama by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. If applied, the plaintiff would have to show that the journalist or outlet that slandered or insulted him knew that what he was reporting was false. And that is precisely what media affectionate to politicians do: negligently spread lies, with the desire to harm anyone who stands in the way of the master. – LA PRENSA, Apr. 21.

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