The world according to Monsanto : pollution, corruption, and

122 the world according to monsantoployment contract because she threatened to reveal under oath and in writingto the Federal Communications Commission the broadcast of a falsified,distorted, or tendentious news report?” The jury answered in the affirmativeand Jane won damages of $425,000.*“Were you supported by the press?” The question obviously saddened Jane,who replied: “No. The major national media ignored the trial. The CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes and the New York Times promised to do something, butwe never heard from them again. There were even incredible manipulations.For example, we had a long meeting with a reporter from the St. PetersburgTimes, a very respected Florida newspaper. She had assiduously followed thetrial. When we read her article, we came down to earth. There was one sentencethat said: ‘The jury did not believe the couple’s claim that the stationbowed to pressure from Monsanto to alter the news report.’ In fact, that sentencehad been added by the editor in chief without the reporter’s knowledge.It was then repeated word for word on CNN, which never granted us a rightto reply. But the worst thing was that our troubles weren’t over.”Indeed, Fox appealed. On February 13, 2003, a Florida appeals court reversedthe decision. The judges considered that no law prohibited a televisionnetwork or a newspaper company from lying to the public. To be sure,the rules established by the Federal Communications Commission prohibitedit, but they did not have the force of law. As a consequence, the courtfound that the law on whistle-blowers could not apply in the case of Janeand Steve. At the conclusion of a very technical opinion, which did not considerthe underlying question—namely, the dishonesty of Fox News towardits viewers—the two reporters were required to reimburse the network’s attorneys’fees, which amounted to at least $2 million.“In fact,” Jane insisted, “the court adopted the arguments of the company’slawyers, who felt no shame in declaring that no law prohibited thedistortion of the news. We appealed, and finally the Florida Supreme Courtthrew out Fox News’s claim for reimbursement of legal fees. But after whathappened to us, you can understand that investigative journalism is dead inthis country, and that no reporter will try to stand in Monsanto’s way.”†*Steve had decided to handle his case on his own, which he did with the spirit of an experiencedlawyer, but the jury thought that the principal victim was Jane.†Since then, Jane Akre and Steve Wilson have won many prestigious awards: the First AmendmentAward of the Society of Professional Journalists; the Joe Callaway Award for Civic Courage; a SpecialAward for Heroism in Journalism from the Alliance for Democracy; and the Goldman EnvironmentalPrize for North America.