Jane Akre
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jane Akre and her husband Steve Wilson are former employees of Fox-owned-and-operated station WTVT in Tampa, Florida. In 1997, they were fired from the station after refusing to knowingly include false information in their report concerning the Monsanto Company's production of RBGH, a drug designed to make cows produce more milk. They successfully sued under Florida's whistle-blower law and were awarded a US $425,000 settlement by jury decision. However, Fox appealed to an appellate court and won, after the court declared that the FCC policy against falsification that Fox violated was just a policy and not a "law, rule, or regulation", and so the whistle-blower law did not apply.[1]
The court agreed with WTVT's (Fox) argument "that the FCC's policy against the intentional falsification of the news -- which the FCC has called its "news distortion policy" -- does not qualify as the required "law, rule, or regulation" under section 448.102.[...] Because the FCC's news distortion policy is not a "law, rule, or regulation" under section 448.102, Akre has failed to state a claim under the whistle-blower's statute."[2]
In 2001, Akre and Wilson won the Goldman Environmental Prize as a recognition for their report on RBGH. [3]
In 2004, Fox filed a US$1.7 million counter-suit against Akre and Wilson for trial fees and costs. Akre and Wilson both appear in a major portion of the 2004/5 critical documentary, The Corporation.
In 2007 Akre became the editor-in-chief of the national news desk at InjuryBoard.com.[4]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- InjuryBoard.com National News Desk featuring Jane Akre
- Interview with Jane Akre and Steve Wilson
- Official court opinion paper from the Florida Second District Court of Appeals
  |
This article about a United States journalist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
