TAMPA (June 21, 2000)—While the presiding judge in the Tampa state court continues to shop for a retired jurist to hear the case of Wilson and Akre v Fox Television, the station under fire has aired yet another "investigative report" which distorts the truth about synthetic bovine growth Hormone (rBGH).
         When word spread late last week that the trial might begin Monday, the management at WTVT apparently decided it was good time for another update on the controversy surrounding rBGH.   The report, produced by the station's current investigative reporter Glenn Selig, aired on the station's 10 p.m. newscast last Friday night (June 16, 2000). 
        WTVT anchorman John Wilson (no relation to plaintiff Steve Wilson) introduced the report as part of "an on-going Fox 13 investigation."  It appears to have been only the fourth time in more than three years that the station has reported anything on the subject, a fact which could well hurt the broadcaster's case at trial.

        Selig, who got his big break in Tampa in 1997 after working in small markets in California, Michigan and the Texas dust bowl for eight years, pegged his story on the opening of Monsanto's new Posilac manufacturing plant in Augusta, Georgia.
        Although he referred to "this brand new $100 million dollar facility," Selig never mentioned the fact that the plant actually opened nearly a month ago, leading to speculation Fox may have   

held the story to air primarily as damage control just before the start of the trial.  Such a decision would be consistent with Fox's strategy of claiming it has aggressively covered the story since firing Wilson and Akre. 
        Pre-trial testimony has confirmed the station did nothing to produce any story about the  rBGH issue until nearly six months after the journalists were fired--and then rushed a story together a few weeks after the dismissed reporters filed their whistleblower lawsuit against Fox.  Selig's report was the third follow-up report known to have aired on WTVT in the last two years, all of them apparently timed to influence potential jurors or help support a defense motion pending before the court.  
        Selig's story last Friday also featured a Monsanto spokesman who not only claimed milk from rBGH-injected cows is "the same as normal milk" but also that use of the artificial hormone actually provides "a better milk for the consumer."
        rBGH experts say they know of no scientific evidence to support a claim that using the artificial hormone actually improves the quality of milk.  
        The Fox reporter did not immediately respond to a request that he comment on the quality of his most-recent rBGH reporting.     
        Although Selig relied upon  much of the video and other material gathered by Wilson and Akre, it was not immediately clear why he failed to include information from a pile of documents the fired reporters left behind, including studies by Monsanto and statements from FDA officials who have said the milk is not the same.
        "These Fox people are shameless," said co-plaintiff Jane Akre.  
        "Not only do they ignore this issue until their defense case needs a boost, what they do report is either deliberately dishonest, incredibly naive, or produced by people who desperately need to go back to journalism school to learn some basics about ethical reporting,"  Akre added.
        "Is it just an accident that Selig's report is filled with inaccuracies and undocumented assumptions parading as uncontested facts?" asked Wilson.  
        "This is exactly the kind of dishonest journalism that Jane and I stood up against.  Fox advertises Selig's investigative reports as 'tough, thorough and fair.'  What aired Friday night was none of those things and not an 'investigative report' by any stretch of the term.  Tampa Bay area viewers deserve better," he said.  
       Fox attorney Patricia Anderson promised Monday to provide a videotape copy of the Selig report but has since refused to acknowledge her commitment and now simply ignores repeated requests to produce the tape she promised.   
        Editor's Note: Shortly after this page was posted, Fox
attorney Patricia Anderson faxed a note saying the tape was
ready to be picked up. The tape was provided the following
day.