{"id":493,"date":"2012-01-20T16:20:31","date_gmt":"2012-01-20T14:20:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/borkedcode.com\/wp\/?p=493"},"modified":"2012-01-20T16:20:31","modified_gmt":"2012-01-20T14:20:31","slug":"the-right-to-lie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.borkedcode.com\/wp2\/2012\/01\/20\/the-right-to-lie\/","title":{"rendered":"The Right To Lie"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story<\/a> sounds like the plot for a really bad movie \u2013 but it\u2019s true.\u00a0 FOX News \u2013 that bastion of integrity [\/snark] \u2013 just won a lawsuit defending their right to lie and misinform the public<\/em> on the grounds that it was their right to do so, and that the FCC \u2018s position against distorting news was only a recommendation, not a regulation.<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t make this shit up. \u00a0Well, I guess yes you can, but meh. \u00a0Who’d want to?<\/p>\n

And we\u2019re not just talking general opinion here \u2013 we\u2019re talking about factual information being distorted.\u00a0 The case revolved around a journalist who did a story about the dairy industry, and highlighted that dairy farms in Florida were injecting their cows with rBGH (bovine somatotrophin, an artificial growth hormone created by Monsanto) to enhance milk production.<\/p>\n

At Monsanto\u2019s direction, the TV Station where this journalist worked forced the article to be rewritten so many times that the journalist and spouse (also a journalist at the station) refused to air the segment.\u00a0 They were both terminated from employment.\u00a0 They were later awarded $483,000 in damages, a decision which FOX carried to appellate court and had overturned on the grounds that it is within bounds for a television station to lie to its viewers on News programs.<\/p>\n

Now, a quick gut check on the story behind this story says to me \u2013 yes, on a word-for-word reading I agree with the appellate court:\u00a0 it\u2019s not a regulation, so they\u2019re not forbidden from lying.<\/p>\n

But is it right?\u00a0 At the FCC, I\u2019d be jumping up and down and screaming \u201cWHY isn\u2019t this a regulation yet, and three people better assure me that it will be one by next Wednesday!!\u201d\u00a0 As a News<\/em> organization, you\u2019d think they would be ethically bound to bring you honest News.<\/p>\n

Walter Kronkite sure would.<\/p>\n

And further, it tells a great deal<\/em> about the attitudes of FOX News \u2013 they are not interested in presenting the truth<\/em>.\u00a0 They are interested in money, and that\u2019s it.\u00a0 The threat by Monsanto of an expensive lawsuit had them turn against their own reporters, even when their reporters were reporting of a deadly health risk to the public<\/em>.\u00a0 Because that\u2019s what this was:\u00a0 rBGH has been linked (note: linked<\/em>, not identified<\/em>) as a carcinogen in humans.\u00a0 There\u2019s evidence that can make the argument that it causes cancer in infants.<\/p>\n

And not only did FOX not run the story, they later ran an edited version that removed reference to the word \u201ccancer.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Now, don’t get me wrong – I’m not a mamby-pamby quaking-at-the-knees anti-GM foods nut. \u00a0GM foods are generally a good<\/em>\u00a0thing. \u00a0And the rBGH case is not a causal relationship, it’s an identified<\/em>\u00a0relationship, and causality hasn’t been proven. \u00a0Not that Monsanto is out there spending money to find out, or that the government has the cash reserves to perform its own testing. \u00a0The problem is still there, however, and there’s potential harm to consumers in it.<\/p>\n

This is life-and-death information, and FOX chose to lie. \u00a0Not omit. \u00a0LIE. \u00a0Imagine for something considered less important \u2013 the most obvious example would be politics.<\/p>\n

In an age where information is king, the greatest sin is to lie.<\/p>\n

And FOX just used their right to lie as their excuse in court. \u00a0This isn’t some rumor that was overheard in a posh restaurant, it was the foundation of their case. \u00a0They claimed the right to lie to their viewership.<\/p>\n

So I have to ask – if you’re a viewer of FOX News: \u00a0why are you? \u00a0Why do you listen or watch a station that reserves the right to LIE to you when it serves their interest?<\/p>\n

I can’t locate a PDF of the judgment at present, if one turns up I’ll update here.<\/p>\n