Right-wing media backed the baseless claims of election fraud made by former President Trump and his supporters. A flurry of lawsuits have since followed against these media groups, a veritable reality check for them as a good number are now backtracking. This article is from Helen Coster, Jan Wolfe and published by Reuters

The on-air reality check highlights a new trend in conservative media: In an apparent effort to minimize liability for defamation, Newsmax and some other outlets are relying on prepared disclaimers or additional pre-recorded programming to repudiate pro-Trump conspiracy theories spouted by guests and hosts.

Legal experts say this practice, also used in some form by One America News Network (OANN) and other conservative TV and radio networks, is a response to lawsuits recently filed or threatened by Dominion Voting Systems Inc and Smartmatic Inc, two election technology companies targeted by pro-Trump conspiracy theorists.

A Newsmax spokesman declined to comment. OANN did not respond to a request for comment.

Read the full article here. Also, visit the main Democracy Chronicles section on American Democracy