from WNYC studios. I'm Brian Lehrer. This is my daily politics podcast. It's Wednesday, April 19th.

So what do you think about the settlement between Fox News and the Dominion Voting Machine Company?

Was Fox held accountable for spreading

lies about the 2020 election, even though they knew the statements to be false? Fox will pay

Dominion more than $750 million, but it only admits to airing things that were false, not for doing it,

knowing those things were false. Those

things matter, that difference matters. So is this real justice that will make it harder for Fox or

others to lie to try and overturn true election outcomes in next year's presidential elections

and other future elections? Or is the message here that settling a lawsuit is just

the cost of doing business if your goal is ending democracy for fun and profit?

Here's the president of Dominion voting machines, John Paulos, just after the settlement was

announced.

Fox and Dominion have reached an historic settlement. Fox has admitted to telling lies about Dominion that caused enormous damage to my company,

our employees, and the customers that we serve.

Nothing can ever make up for that.

Throughout this process, we have sought accountability and believe the evidence brought to light through this case underscores the consequences of spreading lies.

Maybe. But what are the consequences for the fake news conspiracy theory echo chamber, when Fox itself hardly reported the settlement

to its own viewers, those Americans most likely to believe in the lies. Another question,

kind of an opposite one. Are there any consequences for freedom of the press when a news

organization is held legally liable for speech that it chooses to air, true or not.

We'll talk about the settlement now with the legendary First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams,

who has long represented media companies, including the New York Times,

...