If only Fox’s journalism could’ve gone on trial

Why so much energy on electricity?  ͏  ͏  ͏ [San Antonio Express-News - Header Logo]( [View in browser]( SPRING SALE EXTENDED: Only 25¢ For a limited time, save on unlimited digital access. [Subscribe Today.]( [My dream of Rupert Murdoch on the stand dies]( I really wanted to see Fox News’ journalism go on trial. I wanted to see [Fox News Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch]( testify to why hosts on his network [promoted the Big Lie while they privately acknowledged the truth]( that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential race. I wanted to see accountability for journalists [violating our industry’s ethics](. Murdoch, though, bought a $767 million get-out-of-court-free card. One case against Fox settled, [six more to go](. Holding people with power to account is my favorite part of the job, and goodness knows [journalists like those on Fox have lost the trust of too many Americans]( and damaged our industry. The only way to win back trust is through transparency. Transparency in how we do our jobs and handle our mistakes. I will always be thankful for Dominion’s lawsuit because it uncovered the truth about Fox News’s editorial judgment and exposed it to [sunlight, the best of disinfectants](. Or did it expose their business plan? Fox executives, and many of my colleagues, will disagree. Fox attorneys argued their clients had a duty to discuss [the Big Lie]( because it was newsworthy. Other journalists worry the case could have hurt journalism, either relieving the media of any obligation to the truth or opening the door for a conservative Supreme Court to make suing journalists easier. Defamation suits are not fun; some people and companies use them to silence critics. Luckily for Texans, we have the [Texas Citizen Participation Act]( that guarantees we can debate and report on the news of the day and punishes anyone who tries to use a defamation suit to silence their enemies. Defamation laws, though, serve a good purpose by demanding journalists back up their reporting with facts and balance their investigative work. Most organizations have lawyers carefully check stories before they are published. Fox’s executives and hosts thought they were above such niceties because they worked for one of the most powerful men in the world. They ignored facts exculpating Dominion’s voting machines. Most damning, though, were the emails, texts and testimony showing the network was more interested in appeasing viewers, winning ratings and making money than fulfilling the journalists’ obligation to “seek truth and report it.” In [settling their suit](, Dominion did what was best for the company and its investors. But I can’t help but wonder whether putting Rupert Murdoch on the stand might not have been the best outcome for journalism. TONIGHT: Join me and [Mustafa Tameez]( for a Houston Public Library-sponsored conversation titled “Is Demography Destiny?” on Thursday, April 20, at 6 p.m. [More details and registration here](. [Chris Tomlinson Headshot] Chris Tomlinson Business Columnist What Else I'm Writing [Story photo for Lawmakers leaving smartest electricity bills to die]( Photo: Josie Norris, San Antonio Express-News [Lawmakers leaving smartest electricity bills to die]( Republican officials seem to be saying, “You can have cheap, reliable or clean electricity, but you can’t have all three. How else would big business make any money?” [Story photo for Recessions hard on Texans, high risk later this year]( Photo: T.J. KIRKPATRICK, NYT [Recessions hard on Texans, high risk later this year]( Economists predict a recession later in 2023, and Texans will suffer more due to dependence on oil and natural gas. What I'm Reading Must Read: [Uvalde families beg Texas lawmakers to raise AR-15 age]( Y’all know how this turned out, but the fight is not over. The bodies are still piling up. (Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News) Should Read: [I am a Trans Texan]( Coming out at the worst possible time. (Texas Observer) Interesting Read: [Taco Bell’s Innovation Kitchen, the Front Line in the Stunt-Food Wars]( The mad scientists behind fast food. (The New Yorker) Technical Read: [The economic impact of the opioid epidemic]( (Brookings) Fun Read: [The Capital Call Girls]( In the early 1990s, a state bureaucrat ran a high-end escort ring serving the state’s powerful men. (Texas Monthly) Question of the Week How can journalism organizations generate more trust with their audience? Reply directly to this email and tell me your thoughts. Mailbag Last Week’s Question: Should federal judges still receive lifetime appointments or have a fixed term? “Federal judges should have a fixed term, but not a short one. They should be able to last past the term of the president who appointed him, but the position should be up for grabs by a new president. Maybe 10-15 years.” –Skip Pfeiffer, San Antonio “No one in any position should have a lifetime appointment. A decent length of time is adequate –from 6 to 10 years – but lifetime appointments make people lazy and defiant, and too powerful. Our current U.S. Supreme Court is full of people who lied to get appointed and there's no downside to future candidates lying just to get on the court as long as there is no recourse.” –Vicki Schmidt, Boerne “The 'knee-jerk' reaction to federal judges having lifetime appointments is heck no. However ... what, then, are the rules for term limits and terminations? Perhaps a defined term for Supreme Court judges that is renewable such that the sitting president and Senate could reconfirm? Also, federal judges do need a code of conduct and ethics guidelines. That is pretty obvious given the current situation with Clarence Thomas.” –Jim Uschkrat, Sugar Land “I believe there should be NO lifetime appointments. I am 84 years old and I have learned that, over time, people's beliefs and goals change as they learn and experience new things through life. After a few years, the appointee, philosophically, may not even resemble the person who was appointed for the position. It's too much to imagine they would continue to perform the way they did when appointed.” –Leonard Russell, Houston The Takeaway Every day I read the Wall Street Journal, a requirement among business journalists. Most days, I take pride in my columns directly contradicting owner Rupert Murdoch’s editorial board on almost every issue. Then one day, [they went and agreed with me!]( A few days later, one of [their analysis writers agreed with me too](. [Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s proposals for fixing the Texas electrical grid]( are so bad and such horrible crony capitalism that they’ve brought the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board and me together. Wise lawmakers want to kill these bills and save Texans tens of billions in higher taxes and electric bills. But the only way to ensure they don’t become law is to keep drawing attention to them. I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but [these proposed changes to managing the electrical grid will shape our lives for decades](. Share With Your Friends Do you know someone who would like Tomlinson's Take? For the Houston edition, [send them here to sign up](; for the San Antonio edition, [send them here](. More Newsletters Hill Country Headlines News and features from Fredericksburg, Boerne and beyond. 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