Today I learned that TV ‘News’ media can lie to its audiences and still be legally protected.I learned that not only can it do so, but they feel that it's acceptable to do...
When we all clamor for Freedom of Press,how much freedom is too much?
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In 1996, Jane Akre and her husband, Todd Wilson, two investigative reporters for FOX News, decided to do a story on the health risks of bovine growth hormone (rBGH).
“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 Todd sued the FOX station for having wrongfully fired them and initially won the case, but the verdict was overturned in an appeals court, in which FOX made the case that there were no written rules against lying and distorting facts in the media. They never denied they had asked Akre to lie, but said it was their right to do so. The court decided 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.”
Fox aired a report after the ruling saying it was "totally vindicated" by the verdict.
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The Media Can Legally Lie | Project Censored
Jane Akre - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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