New York (CNN)Last week's Texas jury decision gave Alex Jones more than punitive damages. A lawsuit filed by the parents of Jesse Lewis, a victim of the Sandy Hook shooting, for more than $45 millionwas ``a calculation that took 10 years to make.'' said CNN's chief media correspondent Brian Stelter.
His two Chicago-based podcast hosts have been responsible for Jones and his Infowars network for the past five years. Their program, Knowledge Fight, has produced more than 700 episodes, and uses comedy to "cut out the ridiculous lies," Stelter told Reliable Sources Sunday. 16} Hosts Dan Friesen and Jordan Holmes traveled to Texas to witness Jones' trial firsthand. Friesensaid the most powerful moment within the courtroom was when Jesse Lewis' mother Scarlett saw her Lewis testify and she spoke directly to Jones.
"I think it will stick in the minds of almost everyone there for the rest of their lives," she said, Friesen.
Co-hosts have been covering Jones since his 2017, and he has gone from seemingly unruly to someone who is now in serious legal and financial jeopardy. I'm watching you do
"All this time, his content itself was essentially hollow," said Friesen. "It's not very interesting to look at him from my point of view."[26][27] But despite Jones' legal troubles, Holmes said the culture he helped create grew much larger.
"Conspiracy culture is built out of the cracks in our normal society," said Holmes.
Although their podcast focuses on examining Jones and his tactics, Holmes said the trial was really about the victims.
"People want to draw attention to Alex being a bombastic character who can be ridiculed and teased, but this is not about him," said Holmes.
The podcast format allows the host to dive beyond Jones' character into the mechanics of what he does and why these conspiracy stories exist. We know this is a serious problem and we are working on it," Friesen said. "But it has to be funny to make it interesting for everyone."
Friesen has listened to Jones' show countless times, but finds it "incredibly boring." He said it was an experience.
"The reason I do this is because I can stand the boredom," Friesen said. He endures the work to help others gain insight into the misinformation phenomenon. "So they could be in a place where they could better understand what Alex was doing and what he was bringing to the table.
Jones is currently facing Many hope the legal and economic crisis will help curb misinformation and conspiracy culture, but Friesen isn't convinced it will be a serious blow.
"The conspiratorial producers and people who get involved in acts like Alex does end up being a little smarter," Friesen said. ...learn what you can do and what you can avoid."
