[Homestead] media "news" ...
Toni Hawryluk
tonihawr at msn.com
Sat Dec 11 11:23:13 EST 2004
FIRED FOX TV REPORTERS FEATURED IN INDY FILM "THE CORPORATION" ARE STILL FIGHTING FOX NEWS DISTORTION; WILL CHALLENGE RENEWAL OF WTVT FOX-13 LICENSE
The whole sordid story of media misconduct in Tampa is a centerpiece of the new independent film "The Corporation."
Here is a quick summary of the developments in our long-suffering efforts to seek justice through the court:
On December 2, 1997, Fox dismissed Jane and Steve.
On April 2, 1998, Jane and Steve filed a civil lawsuit against WTVT/Fox charging they were fired for refusing to broadcast what they knew and documented to be lies and distortions in a series of news reports about bovine growth hormone and for threatening to expose the station's misconduct to the FCC.
On August 18, 2000, following a five-week trial, a Florida state court jury found that Fox terminated Jane for opposing the broadcast of a "false, distorted, or slanted news report" and awarded her $425,000. Fox appealed. (Steve, who represented himself at trial, received nothing on his identical claim.)
On February 14, 2003, the Florida Court of Appeal overturned the jury's verdict
(though not its finding that the story was false, distorted or slanted).
The decision was based largely on the grounds that since it is not against any promulgated law, rule, or regulation
for a licensed broadcaster to deliberately distort the news or lie on the air,
Akre and Wilson were never deserving of protection as whistleblowers in the first place.
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