WhatFinger


Fake news starts to cost the media real money. Good. Let's have more of this

ABC pays settlement to meat company for its phony, completely dishonest 'pink slime' story



We told you about this back in March, when ABC thought it could escape culpability for its falsehoods by getting a judge to throw out a lawsuit filed against it by Beef Products Inc. That didn't work. ABC scared the bejeezus out of a lot of people, and caused Beef Products Inc. to have to lay off employees, all by using a lot of frightening words and innuendo that had nothing to do with the truth. The meat processed by the company is perfectly safe. The whole story was based on nothing, and sensationalized by one of those crusading reporters who wants you to think he's the big hero standing up for truth and justice.
He wasn't. And ABC now has to open its checkbook and pay the price for its lies:
Terms of the settlement are confidential, but judging from the celebratory mood of BPI officials and their lawyers Wednesday morning, one could conclude that terms of the settlement were favorable to the company. "We are extraordinarily pleased with this settlement," BPI attorney Dan Webb said in a brief statement outside the Union County Courthouse. "I believe we have totally vindicated the product." Webb took no questions from the media. BPI owners Eldon and Regina Roth were present, but were not made available for questions. BPI issued a written statement, that read in part: "While this was not an easy road to travel, it was necessary to begin rectifying the harm we suffered as a result of what we believed to be biased and baseless reporting in 2012. Through this process, we have again established what we all know to be true about Lean Finely Textured Beef: it is beef, and it is safe, wholesome and nutritious.

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Excellent. I hope ABC has to pay so much that they have to lay off Jim Avila

Excellent. I hope ABC has to pay so much that they have to lay off Jim Avila. They should fire him regardless because he's an awful, dishonest reporter. He would probably have no trouble finding a job at CNN. Some of you find it strange that I get so much satisfaction when a media outlet pays such a heavy price for this sort of thing. The media, after all, represent a vital part of a free society. Why, some have asked, am I so overjoyed to see them brought low, their credibility shot, and in some cases their very financial viability threatened? It's precisely because what they do is so important. I want an independent, free press that informs us accurately and truthfully about what's going on. We need that. And because that is so important to America, those who presume to be doing so while actually lying and falsely attacking others deserve to pay a very steep price. It's no different than when a politician is found to be using his power corruptly, and has to leave office as a result. It's exactly because his position is so important that we don't put up with corruption in the way he performs it.

When the news media are systematically lying, misleading the public and selling narratives as a substitute for truth

When the news media are systematically lying, misleading the public and selling narratives as a substitute for truth, that needs to be known and severely punished. And if it actually takes down one of the giants of the news business one of these days, I don't see why anyone should see it as a negative thing. It will cost some people their jobs, and that's too bad, but good people can get other jobs. The more these people peddle lies with impunity, the more we'll have an uninformed public and a totally unaccountable media running wild with any phony tale they can sell - whether for ratings or in the service of an ideological agenda. This hurts the country. It hurts people who have done nothing wrong. Beef Products Inc. did nothing wrong, yet it took a serious financial hit and people lost their jobs, all because some jerk decided to put them under the hot lights and treat them like they were criminals. A police detective who did that to an innocent person would face consequences. Up until now, the media rarely did. Hopefully this settlement indicates that's about to change. Oh, and if Sarah Palin scores such a big win in her libel suit against the New York Times that it puts them out of business . . . awesome. It couldn't happen to a nicer paper.


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Dan Calabrese -- Bio and Archives

Dan Calabrese’s column is distributed by HermanCain.com, which can be found at HermanCain

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