Judge dismisses Newsmax lawsuit against Fox News, but it won’t be the end
A federal judge has dismissed the antitrust lawsuit filed by Newsmax against Fox News. However, the judge did leave open the option for Newsmax to refile.
Newsmax filed suit earlier this week, accusing Fox News of operating as a monopoly for conservative cable news TV and using anticompetitive tactics.
Lawsuit dismissed
Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the suit as an “impermissible ‘shotgun pleading.’”
Cannon wrote it’s “a complaint containing multiple counts where each count adopts the allegations of all preceding counts, causing each successive count to carry all that came before and the last count to be a combination of the entire complaint.”
In layman’s terms, that means the lawsuit repeated the same allegations in every section.
Judge Cannon said the court has an independent obligation to dismiss the case but said Newsmax will be allowed to refile.
“We understand this is just a technical matter, and our law firm is refiling,” a Newsmax spokesman said in a statement to the New York Times.
Lawsuit filed
The complaint filed on Wednesday argued Fox used its market power to put pressure on distributors not to include Newsmax and other right-leaning networks.
“Newsmax cannot sue their way out of their own competitive failures in the marketplace to chase headlines simply because they can’t attract viewers,” Fox News Media told Straight Arrow News.
The complaint alleges that Fox News has also attempted to block Newsmax from platforms such as Hulu, Sling and Fubo.
“Fox may have profited from exclusionary contracts and intimidation tactics for years, but those days are over,” Christopher Ruddy, Newsmax CEO, said in a statement. “This lawsuit is about restoring fairness to the market and ensuring that Americans have real choice in the news they watch. If we prevail, Fox’s damages could be tripled under federal law – an outcome that would send a powerful message to any company that thinks it can monopolize public discourse.”
Lawyers for Newsmax are asking for a federal court to rule Fox’s actions illegal, award monetary damages, order equitable relief and more.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
