BoatBanter.com - Starting the work week with a chuckle

In February 2003, a Florida Court of Appeals unanimously agreed
with an assertion by FOX News that there is no rule against distorting
or falsifying the news in the United States.

Back in December of 1996, Jane Akre and her husband, Steve Wilson,
were hired by FOX as a part of the Fox “Investigators” team at WTVT in
Tampa Bay, Florida. In 1997 the team began work on a story about bovine
growth hormone (BGH), a controversial substance manufactured by Monsanto
Corporation. The couple produced a four-part series revealing that there
were many health risks related to BGH and that Florida supermarket
chains did little to avoid selling milk from cows treated with the
hormone, despite assuring customers otherwise.

According to Akre and Wilson, the station was initially very
excited about the series. But within a week, Fox executives and their
attorneys wanted the reporters to use statements from Monsanto
representatives that the reporters knew were false and to make other
revisions to the story that were in direct conflict with the facts. Fox
editors then tried to force Akre and Wilson to continue to produce the
distorted story. When they refused and threatened to report Fox's
actions to the FCC, they were both fired.(Project Censored #12 1997)

Akre and Wilson sued the Fox station and on August 18, 2000, a
Florida jury unanimously decided that Akre was wrongfully fired by Fox
Television when she refused to broadcast (in the jury's words) “a false,
distorted or slanted story” about the widespread use of BGH in dairy
cows. They further maintained that she deserved protection under
Florida's whistle blower law. Akre was awarded a $425,000 settlement.
Inexplicably, however, the court decided that Steve Wilson, her partner
in the case, was ruled not wronged by the same actions taken by FOX.

FOX appealed the case, and on February 14, 2003 the Florida Second
District Court of Appeals unanimously overturned the settlement awarded
to Akre. The Court held that Akre’s threat to report the station’s
actions to the FCC did not deserve protection under Florida’s whistle
blower statute, because Florida’s whistle blower law states that an
employer must violate an adopted “law, rule, or regulation." In a
stunningly narrow interpretation of FCC rules, the Florida Appeals court
claimed that the FCC policy against falsification of the news does not
rise to the level of a "law, rule, or regulation," it was simply a
"policy." Therefore, it is up to the station whether or not it wants to
report honestly. (Anybody surprised this happened in Florida?)

*During their appeal, FOX asserted that there are no written rules
against distorting news in the media. They argued that, under the First
Amendment, broadcasters have the right to lie or deliberately distort
news reports on public airwaves. Fox attorneys did not dispute Akre’s
claim that they pressured her to broadcast a false story, they simply
maintained that it was their right to do so.*

Fox News...the more you watch, the dumber you get.

--
There’s no point crying over spilled 4-Methylcyclohexanemethanol.