Court Ruling: Fox News Has a First Amendment Right to Lie »
Posted By metavirus 4 months, 1 week ago in News
A Florida Appeals court ruled there is absolutely nothing illegal about lying, concealing or distorting information by a major press organization. The court reversed the $425,000 jury verdict in favor of journalist Jane Akre who charged she was pressured by Fox Television management and lawyers to air what she knew and documented to be false information.
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metavirus
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fiftynine4 months, 1 week ago
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Codi69344 months, 1 week ago
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mark-stevens4 months, 1 week ago
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Rupert Murdoch used his profits from the National Enquirer and other tabloids to buy and own Fox news. In spite of his right leanings, RM predicted months before the elections, that Obama would win in a landslide.
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RM runs his business on "The lies is only as good as the believer" I as an adult, quit believing the news years ago. -
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Goppy4 months, 1 week ago
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Mainstream Media has existed ... thrived in this nation as a case study in 'appeasement'.
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In short ... they make money by not making waves.
There have been some exceptions.
For instance, Mainstream Media kept the Clinton's Whitewater 'scandal' in the news for years - even though there was never anything found. They relayed every feed from Sun Myung Moon's "Washington Times" and regurgitated it to the public.
But generally, Mainstream Media does not care about INFORMING the public with ANYTHING substantive. Look at the run-up to the Iraq war. There was plenty of evididence that this was a completely contrived ... arbitrary war.
Did media ferret out any information on this?
NOPE! In my opinion, the only REAL journalistic effort at questioning the Iraq war was made by Joe Wilson ... the fellow who went to Nigeria looking for a connection between Iraq and WMD.
But Joe Wilson is not a reporter. He's not a journalist. He got into print by writing an opinion.
Mainstream Media let George W. Bush roll over them.
Mainstream Media has NO backbone whatsoever.
So for FOX to charge Bias in Media is completely ludicrous.
. ∴ . ∴ . ∴ . ∴ . ∴ . ∴ . ∴ . ∴ . ∴ . ∴ . ∴ . ∴ . ∴ . ∴ . ∴ .
But I will tell y'all this ... and I think it's very important to remember.
There has NEVER been an extremist Ideology that has NOT attacked "Mainstream Media."
EXAMPLES:
Hugo Chavez has been claiming the Venezuelan Mainstream Media is biased against him ... and uses HIS media as a propaganda weapon.
Augusto Pinochet claimed Chilean Mainstream Media was biased against him ... and used his military to shut down all who disagreed with him.
Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Premier ... bought up the majority of Mainstream Media to ensure HIS Right Wing propaganda was the only message heard by Italians.
Adolf Hitler claimed Mainstream Media was run by Jews ... and was biased against him ... and Germany ... and he shut them down ... and replaced them with his Propaganda.
When Samoza took over Nicaragua ... he claimed Mainstream Media was biased to the left ... so he shut them down.
When the Sandanistas too over from Samoza ... he claimed Mainstream Media was biased to the right ... so he shut them down.
See?
You can ALWAYS identify an extremist by how much he goes on about Mainstream Media being 'against him'.
And ...
You can ALSO measure how extremely ... weirdly extremist ... how anti-traditional American values ... one is .... by how VIGILANTLY they whine about Mainstream Media being biased against their ... Ideology.
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It's like an unshakable social equation.
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epiphannyy4 months, 1 week ago
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You took the words right out of my mouth! This is proof positive that the Florida Supreme Court is as corrupt as they come...as if that fact wasn't already known after their decision to allow Bush to steal the 2000 election by blocking the legal recount that was proving Gore to be the popular winner. This decision is just more of the same. The fact that this proves that Fox News is reporting lies will likely have no effect on their popularity, however. I would really love to hear what the many Fox News fans have to say about this situation. Not that they were found to be within their rights to lie and manipulate the news, but that they ARE, in fact, lying and manipulating the news they report. To me, that fact is more important than whether they have the RIGHT to do it or not. Who could possibly respect them as a reputable news source after this????????? I mean seriously!
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Natureboy4 months, 1 week ago
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It's always been legal to lie unless under oath.Which is perjury. Or unless one lies to obtain something which one is not entitled to - which is fraud.
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And it's a good thing, or we'd be in real trouble when she asks us if that dress makes her look fat.
The appelate court's decision actually hinges on whether the FCC's prohibition against intentional misrepresentation qualifies as a "law, rule or regulation" under Florida's whistleblower statute.
That's a much less sexy issue than the whole "legal to lie" thing but on the upside, if it were illegal to lie, publishing this article would have been a criminal act.-
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rumple4skin4 months, 1 week ago
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Natureboy says - "The appelate court's decision actually hinges on whether the FCC's prohibition against intentional misrepresentation qualifies as a "law, rule or regulation" under Florida's whistleblower statute."
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Jibber-jabber obfuscation. Nobody has a right to lie in print or on the air. NOBODY!
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crespi4 months, 1 week ago
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The difference being that the Enquirer never influenced voting, policy or starting wars, while FoxNews, mouthpiece for the Bush/Cheney White House, has pushed for the most heinous things like the preemptive nuking of Iran (right after telling us that our own student Iraq-war protesters should be tortured, that WE SHOULD TORTURE OUR OWN CHILDREN!) and much much more hatefulness and violent "solutions" to our problems than ANYONE outside of the neo-Nazis and other violent extremist groups..
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metavirus4 months, 1 week ago
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"The only problem is where do we go for the truth?"
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Precisely. The problem with all the major outlets acting like tabloids is that someday soon we won't have anything except for tabloids, simply a sliding scale of more credible tabloids and less credible tabloids
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GehlLady4 months, 1 week ago
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Meta
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I propped this after going to other sources and found your submission to be basically accurate, but I don't really trust most "news" programs. Unfortunately, I find I have to spend WAY too much time surfing many sources to get a balanced view of news.
Fox has clearly been caught out being totally unethical, but I'm afraid this is not as uncommon as it should be across the spectrum of these large so-called "news" organizations.-
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metavirus4 months, 1 week ago
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i hear ya. getting the real story involves a heck of a lot of WORK these days. as a former republican/libertarian, i still have a number of trusted sources in the reasonable right-of-center online world that i look to. now that i'm a left-of-center independent, i find myself needing to plow through lots of competing noise in order to get at the truth. and forget cnn or most of msnbc or cnbc to give me anything of value. most anything i find of value these days comes from online, with some exceptions given for some BBC reporting, some true investigative journalism out of the NYT and WaPo and the Economist.
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chip564 months, 1 week ago
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metavirus4 months, 1 week ago
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i just love it how the basic stance of most cons on propeller has become a game of "I know you are but what am I?!?" so many folks here seem incapable of engaging in a discussion of a particular issue on the merits without resorting to THEY DO IT TOOOO!!!!!!!
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Oh, and P.S., there's a difference between "Lying" and "Bias". Sometimes news outlets that are BIASED report LIES. But other times news outlets that are BIASED report TRUTH. Bias does not equate to lies and lies do not always equate to bias. -
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jakesguile4 months, 1 week ago
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Happy hour started a lil' early and chippo's house. Get yourself informed. Fox does nothing but lie. They print whatever they feel like and don't apologize for it unless they're made to. At least when CNN and MSNBC make a mistake, they retract it and apologize. They actually try to report based upon fact and relevant information, not just from batshitty-award nominees
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rumple4skin4 months, 1 week ago
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ok CHIP56 - It's true. Most of the crap coming from FOX is a lie. Were it not true then there would be no need to rule on the legality of lying to the public. Because there is no newly-accepted definition of news other than the old-school dictionary definition (hich of course does not apply) any BS group can call itself a news organization. FOX qualifies under the 'anything we report is news' banner. What a joke ... what a tragedy.
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The Florida Court of Appeals needs to be retired.
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PsychoHosebeastComment removed: Spammer, Abusive3 Replies
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metavirus4 months, 1 week ago
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i was wondering when endoscopy would wander in here and treat us to another "The libtards DO IT TOO!!!!!11!!!!!"
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true to form, as always.
P.S. I think it's hilarious that people are now jumping all up in ABC News' business when they, out of all the major networks, were the most critical of Obama before and after the election. I can understand NBC but to now call down a fatwa upon ABC is hilarious. Give these guys another 6 months and the only networks good pure conservative christian folk will be permitted to watch will be Fox, Fox News, Disney Channel and ABC Family (oops, scratch that, Disney and ABC Family are associated with the ZOMG LIBTARD KOOL-AID DRINKIN ABC NEWS!!!)
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rumple4skin4 months, 1 week ago
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The Center for Media and Public Affairs gets a no vote from me:
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For ifmd91 - The media watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) has challenged CMPA's non-partisan claim, based on the argument that much of its funding has come from conservative sources, and that its founder, Dr. S. Robert Lichter, once held a chair in mass communications at the American Enterprise Institute and was a Fox News contributor.[18][19] After a Washington Post article referred to CMPA as "conservative," the Post published a "Clarification," which concluded, "The Center describes itself as nonpartisan, and its studies have been cited by both conservative and liberal commentators."[20] Media Transparency documents that between 1986 and 2005 CMPA received 55 grants totaling $2,960,916 (unadjusted for inflation).[from:? "Center for Media and Public Affairs, Inc.", Media Transparency, accessed February 2008.] The data reveals that the overwhelming proportion of CMPA's funding comes from conservative foundations.
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lrobertsonbooks4 months, 1 week ago
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The Supreme Court has ruled that almost anything goes in politics. By the same token, heaven help the moron in the news who shorts a stock and then trashes the stock on the air. Especially since the SEC is trying to prove it isn't corrupt, they will be all over the moron like flies on you know what.
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ahmonrey4 months, 1 week ago
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nowaynobama4 months, 1 week ago
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Hey all you liberal A-Holes, for your information there were plenty of Lib/Dems on board about WMDs. Kerry, Kennedy, Hillary to name a few so don't go down that road you can't win that argument. Also MSNBC tells just as many lies as anyone and they are biased, who isn't ? Also just because no WMDs were found does not mean they didn't exist. Saddam Husseins former general stated live in my church they were shipped to Syria under the guise of humanitarian aid after an earthquake in Syria. The planes were gutted and BINGO,there buried in the desert. Don't give me the B...s..t taht I'm brain washed into believing these what Libs call " lies " I could say just the same for all your Liberal B...S..T !! so kiss me A... !!
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Dennis2424 months, 1 week ago
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Leathermonster replies:
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“I will NEVER again watch Fox News. How Dare they!?
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You probably never did watch Fox News, anyway.
Go ahead. They won't even miss you.
But, to ;your point; If Fox News had lied, you'd not need to go back to a case that was brought, nine years ago, to find an incident in which a deliberate "lie" was uttered.
By example, in the typical O'bama speech, I can provide you instances wherein he lies, several times in a given speech.
Here's the best example of a lie; "I did not have sexual relations with that woman" See the difference? A bold, declarative statement, made after the fact, before the utterer knew that he'd been caught, by dint of semen saved on the blue dress. But, I'm sure that most of us can clearly see, and discern the difference. A "lie" in most contexts can simply be a matter of content, or opinion.
What, exactly, was the "lie" that Fox News told? Was it a statement, that was proven to be wrong, after the fact? Or, was it simply a difference of opinion between the woman writer, and her bosses at Fox News. That, more likely was the case. Otherwise, you'd not have to resort to nine year old cases to find a suitable "lie."
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ADAGUY4 months, 1 week ago
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Are U grasping at straws or what?
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If you seriously can't recall any of the lies that have been spread by Fox & Company, then you aren't listening.
The fact is that Fox lies constantly as they have no reason not to. The courts ruled long ago that these shows such as hannity, Bill Orielly, Limpballs, etc, are not required to be accurate in their broadcasts, as those they are smearing are "celebrities", and these shows fall under the same class as Letterman, and Leno. That is they are not considered "news shows', therefore they are classified as "entertainment", and accuracy of content is not an issue.
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Adamkunn4 months, 1 week ago
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Here's the best example of a lie; "I did not have sexual relations with that woman"
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-----
Let's take a look at a few other famous liars.
"I have a wide stance." Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho)
"I was hiking the Appalachian Trail." Governor Mark Sanford (R-South Carolina)
"I did not sexually harrass under age Congressional Pages." Congressman Mark Foley (R-Florida)
"I did not out Valerie Plame." I. Lewis "Scooter" Libbey (Republican)
"I never brokered weapons sales to Sadaam Hussein." Secretary of Defense Donald "Rumsferatu" Rumsfeld
"Barack Obama pals around with ter'rists!" Sarah "The Brain Wizard" Palin
For every ONE lie a Democrat tells, you get at least ten Republican lies. If I had to document every lie Rush "Went to the Dominican Republic With Off Market Viagra To Screw Underage Children" Limbaugh has told, I'd crash the servers.
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mrfishr844 months, 1 week ago
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Haha - Fox news haters crack me up. All major news, liberal or conservative, lie to push an agenda. Wake up people. Who denies the press got Obama elected? No one with a brain! (which apparently is less than half of the country - enjoy socialism America)
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tchef4 months, 1 week ago
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I deny that the press got Obama elected. The Republicans had spent the last eight years ruining the country. They offered a sacrificial lamb candidate with nothing to offer but more of the same.
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Obama ran a brilliant campaign. He has done more for this country in his first few months in office that Bush did in all eight years. Yes this country is still in trouble, we have a long way to go to get us back on course.
And to your socialism comment George Bush made several large moves to socialism. Just look and the bank bailouts ( started by Bush before Obama took office ) and the prescription drug plan. -
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djn3nunez34 months, 1 week ago
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Who denies the press got Obama elected?
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I do. He beat Hillary. The Democrats won because of Bush. It didn't really matter if it was Clinton or Obama, either one could have beaten McCain.
The press in this country is a joke and Faux is the biggest joke of them all. -
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rumple4skin4 months, 1 week ago
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mrfish84 - Who denies the press got Obama elected? No one with a brain! (which apparently is less than half of the country - enjoy socialism America)
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If you do not like the country that is trying to be reborn under a democratically elected President and not one appointed by the less-than-supreme court, leave this one quickly and quietly after having a news conference on your favorite 'news' station.
I don't think that people hate FOX but they have very good reason to agree that what FOX 'does' is not news. Further ... what they 'do' is not (here's the lie} "fair and balanced."
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Dennis2424 months, 1 week ago
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sjd8325block35 minutes ago
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Would someone please give me the background on this piece?
What is this story referring to? In fact,what is/was the story?
And, who the heck is Jane Akre?
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Jane Akre
is apparently an ambulance chaser who lost a suit, on appeal to Fox News. The suit was brought by Jane and her husband, and was ruled "for the Plaintiffs," in 2000. Fox counter sued Jane and her husband for 1.7 million dollars in 2004. That's what this fight is about.
I don't believe that Jane or her husband can show you a Bill Clinton type "lie." That is, an outright lie, after the fact. "What we have here, is a failure to communicate."
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Dennis2424 months, 1 week ago
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mrfishr84block
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8 minutes ago
Haha - Fox news haters crack me up. All major news, liberal or conservative, lie to push an agenda. Wake up people. Who denies the press got Obama elected? No one with a brain! (which apparently is less than half of the country - enjoy socialism America)
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Oh, you noticed that too, did you? We're facing a herd of Serial posters tonight. They're going after Fox News because Fox has a bead on their "boy." I'm sure that this Cadre of shills is being directed by O'bama, from the White House.
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Dennis2424 months, 1 week ago
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Tcarosblock59 minutes ago
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Fox news has faded into oblivion.
Everyone knows it's like watching the "Simpsons" or some surreal cartoon. What's with all the bimbo's with lip gloss?
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Here's a new Democrat/Liberal change of word meaning, for you. As of tonight, "Oblivion" means leading the pack of cable news channels, by double, and triple digits.
Read on;
Fox News Channel (FNC) is an American cable news and satellite channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation. As of April 2009, it is available to 102 million households in the U.S. and further to viewers internationally, broadcasting primarily out of its New York City studios.
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marylinc19414 months, 1 week ago
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Do your on reacearch and fond out what is true. If you go into finding out if Fox is or not telling the truth. Go to to the trouble to find out. When you do you will find out tat Fox is the one that is telling the truth. You really need to find out about the man obama. He is heading down the path that Hitler did. Read, search, I will stay with Fox.
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sprzats4 months, 1 week ago
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I looked this case up and how you can defend Fox is beyond me. We need reporters like Jane and Steve. We don't need another Fox.
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http://www.brownpride.us/forum/fox-news-sued-have-... -
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Skeptic4 months, 1 week ago
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Let's see - Jane Akre and her husband were fired from the local Fox affiliate in 1997. The station they worked for was owned by New World Pictures. News Corporation, a conglomerate founded by Rupert Murdoch, became an investor in New World Pictures in 1994 but did not become the owner of WTVT, the station that fired Akre, until 1997.
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This is an article written, without references, by Metavirus and submitted to Library Grape. Then Metavirus posts the article to Propeller. It is simply a pathetic article written by a pathetic author for some unknown pathetic reason. -
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babybuffsmom4 months, 1 week ago
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Not to rain on your LIBERAL VS CONSERVATIVE beat down--but is anyone aware of the details of this case? The case before the court involved the use of growth hormones in cows, not politics,and whether a not a reporter had a right to tell a "truth" which could potentially open her employer up to lawsuits. As that employer did not agree that her "proof" that the information was unreliable could withstand a court challenge for which they would be held culpable she was not allowed to use said info. Educate yourselves before you spew please... the rest of us have better things to do with our time....
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