AGRIBUSINESS EXAMINER | Issue #52 | October 19, 1999 | A.V. Krebs Editor\Publisher
Justice delayed is justice denied, as investigative reporters Jane Akre and Steve Wilson are learning from their suit against their former employer Rupert Murdoch's FOX 13 TV station in Tampa Bay, Florida in which they are claiming they were fired for refusing to broadcast statements which they considered to be untrue about bovine growth hormone (rBGH), which is manufactured by Monsanto, a major FOX advertiser.
Despite a trial court judge Gaspar Ficcarotta, who clearly does not want to preside in the case, a battery of high-priced Washington, D.C. lawyers defending FOX, and the nation's media which refuses to report their story, much less support their freedom of speech rights, Akre and Wilson have scored some welcome preliminary victories in their suit.
While they have managed to win a series of continuances, FOX has nevertheless three times unsuccessfully sought to have the suit dismissed, the latest effort coming prior to the scheduled October 11 trial date which has now been again postponed indefinitely.
In August, attorney William McDaniels of the Washington firm Williams & Connolly filed a mountain of papers along with a Motion For Partial Summary Judgment in the case. He argued the journalists' whistleblower claim should be thrown out primarily because only the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has the right to pass judgment on whether a broadcast licensee deliberately tried to slant the news. His motion was denied.
During the pretrial process both sides have exchanged lists of witnesses expected to testify at the trial. Included among the journalists' witnesses is consumer activist Ralph Nader who has agreed to come to Florida to testify as an expert about the public interest, stressing that broadcasters' use of the public airwaves mandate that they act in the public interest, especially in the news reports they broadcast. FOX attorneys have indicated informally that they will do their best to block Nader's testimony.
Attorney John Chamblee who represents reporter Jane Akre argued against the FOX dismissal motion and provided an equally-thorough written brief to the Court. The "weight of the evidence" submitted to the judge on this issue alone is more than 20 pounds. Wilson, who has represented himself throughout most of the pretrial proceedings, also presented an oral argument that the dispute was much more than an honest editorial disagreement as FOX has repeatedly claimed.
In Florida as in many other jurisdictions, there is a very high standard to be met before denying a party an opportunity to try a claim before a jury. A similar Motion by FOX was denied months ago by Judge Robert Bonanno as was a Motion To Dismiss the claim shortly after it was filed.
Besides Williams & Connolly attorney McDaniels (who tried the Lt. William Calley, Jr. Vietnam My Lai massacre case) and Alicia Marti, a junior member of the firm and Pat Anderson and Tom McGowan of the St. Petersburg, Florida law firm of Rahdert, Anderson, McGowan & Steele, FOX attorneys include Gary Roberts (in-house counsel) and Ted Russell (junior member). New York's Squadron, Ellenoff's Clifford Thau will represent Roger Ailes and in St. Louis, Missouri Steve Rovak with the law firm Sonnenschein, Nath, and Rosenthal will represent Monsanto.
President Clinton's personal attorney David Kendall of the Williams & Connolly firm is also representing FOX's interests in the matter. His involvement came to light at the deposition of St. Petersburg lawyer Patricia Anderson who produced a recent letter from Kendall to Monsanto lawyer John Walsh. It was Walsh's letters to FOX News chief Roger Ailes that kindled the whole dispute in early 1997.
It was also Williams & Connolly who recently represented both Bill Clinton in his Senate impeachment trial and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) in the Department of Justice's anti-trust price fixing suit.
Commenting on the addition of Williams & Connolly to the FOX defense team reporter Steve Wilson observes, "I don't think you pay those kind of lawyers that kind of money to second-chair a case. I suspect the loss of their summary judgment motion was the final straw for the local team. With the case now headed for trial, it seems FOX decided it could use a little more juice. Jane and I have every confidence our own attorneys - John Chamblee and Steve Wenzel - will continue to do a superb job with this case."
