A good apology acknowledges harm and the actions that led to it. It can help repair mistakes and wrongs, signaling accountability and helping people move forward. In both legal and personal settings, we have all seen gradations of apologies: “I am sorry,” “Sorry you feel that way,” “I’m sorry if you were offended,” “Mistakes were made.” The statement from Fox News at the end of Dominion’s defamation case had none of that subtlety. Rather than a clear acknowledgment of wrongdoing or an apology, Fox issued a statement: “We acknowledge the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false.” This non-apology, non-acknowledgment led to a chorus of unsatisfied commentators wishing for more. The Fox/Dominion settlement provides a high-profile case study for the role of apology and acknowledgment when a lawsuit settles and, more broadly, a vivid demonstration of the public desire for apology.
In a previous column, we noted one way in which the record-breaking settlement of the lawsuit between Dominion Voting Systems and Fox News was ordinary: commentary on the settlement reflected the ways that the public reacts to settlement more generally. The public desire for apology, including when a case settles, is also strikingly consistent with existing research. The seemingly unusual Fox/Dominion example looks much less unique when seen in the context of the empirical research into apologies and acknowledgments and what the public thinks about settlement.
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