My apologies to those who may have already spewed their morning coffee over their fish wrap, but this abscess will continue to fester as long as Fux News is permitted to pinch off their turds into the punch bowl.
Ready?
Some enterprising reporters hired by a local Fux News station resisted their management's demand that they include "information" in their reportage that was known to be false. They refused, were fired, sued Fux, won... and then lost it all in appeal.
Fux News, the Official Articulating Orifice of the Borg, actually argued that it was their constitutional right to lie to the public... and it may well be. But the right to lie runs hard up against The Communications Act of 1934 which requires that broadcasters must operate in the "public interest, convenience and necessity."
Are you ready to rumble?
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. [...] 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
FOX appealed the case, and on February 14, 2003 the Florida Second District Court of Appeals unanimously overturned the settlement [...] 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.
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.
[T]he Fox station then filed a series of motions in a Tampa Circuit Court seeking more than $1.7 million in trial fees and costs from both Akre and Wilson.
http://projectcensored.org/...
Here's the link for the Court of Appeals ruling.
http://www.2dca.org/...
It's never too late to apply the FCC broadcast requirements in a station's licensing agreement.