Don’t confuse “malice” with “actual malice.”
Common law malice emphasizes the ideas of “ill will” and “spite” or the defendant’s feelings towards the plaintiff.
“Actual malice”—in legal terms—is an element of “defamation” where the defendant is accused of making false statements to a 3rd party (in this case broadcast on-air and published on-line) while either
1) knowing that the statement is false; or
2) willfully disregarding whether the statement was true or not.
This is a defamation suit filed by Dominion regarding Fox’s reporting on Dominion being part of a vote-rigging conspiracy (being designed specifically to “rig” elections, using algorithms to “flip votes,” etc.)
So far the filings indicate that Fox thought that Powell, Giuliani and Lindell were pushing a fabricated story. The Dominion filing presents texts, emails and sworn depositions by FC/FNN executives, producers and on-air personalities to back up its “actual malice” claims.
So Dominion’s case boils down to this argument: if Fox (et al) thought the narrative was bogus, why did they air it?
FWIW, I’ve been reading these filings—not necessarily thoroughly, but to get a sense of what Dominion’s claims are. The funniest thing yet (well, to me anyway) is that Sidney Powell’s source regarding algorthms that “flip votes” was an email from a woman who was told about the algorithms by the “voices in the wind.” (The voices also told this un-named woman that Justice Scalia was killed in a week-long human hunting expedition.) The reason I think it’s funny is because I really do think Powell’s credibility is more than a little questionable. She added Smartmatic to her claims of voter machine fraud in swing states—Smartmatic was only used in Los Angeles County, CA.
This case will be a landmark case in my opinion. Per Sullivan case (USSC), I think it will be established that news media does not have absolute rights if it transcends into false accusations and unsubstantiated slander. The main thing that has been discovered so far is it Fox Prime Time Talking Heads (that people on the Right have admired and salivated over for so many years) actually talk out of both sides of their asses; are afraid of their base and their own viewership, even if it means they have to perpetuate lies and crackpot conspiracy theories to maintain ratings. It’s all about money.