WTVT

===Monsanto controversy===
{{undue weight section|date=October 2018}}
In 1997, [[Steve Wilson (reporter)|Steve Wilson]] and [[Jane Akre]] began work on a story regarding the [[agricultural biotechnology]] company [[Monsanto]] and [[recombinant bovine growth hormone]] (rBGH), a milk additive that had been approved for use by the [[Food and Drug Administration]] but also blamed for a number of health issues. Wilson and Akre planned a four-part investigative report on Monsanto's use of rBGH, which prompted the company to write to Fox News Channel president [[Roger Ailes]] in an attempt to have the report reviewed for bias and because of the "enormous damage that can be done" as a result of the report.<ref>''[http://reason.com/archives/2006/05/05/the-strange-case-of-steve-wils Reason]'': "The Strange Case of Steve Wilson," John Sugg, May 2006 issue.</ref>

WTVT did not run the story, and later argued in court that the report was not "breakthrough journalism." Wilson and Akre then claimed that the station's actions constituted the news broadcast telling lies, while WTVT countered looking only for fairness, and wanted to air a hard-hitting story with a number of statements critical of Monsanto.<ref name="sptimes.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.sptimes.com/News/081900/TampaBay/Reporter_wins_suit_ov.shtml |title=Reporter wins suit over firing |publisher=Sptimes.com |date=August 19, 2000 |access-date=October 28, 2011}}<sup> [dead link}</sup></ref> Wilson and Akre stated that they rewrote the report over 80 times over the course of 1997, and WTVT decided to exercise "its option to terminate their employment contracts without cause,"<ref>[http://www.2dca.org/opinions/Opinion_Pages/Opinion_Page_2003/February/February%2014,%202003/2D01-529.pdf New World Communs. of Tampa, Inc. v. Akre, 866 So. 2d 1231(2003)]</ref> and did not renew their contracts in 1998. WTVT later ran a report about Monsanto and rBGH in 1998, and the report included defenses from Monsanto.<ref name="Reason, May 2006">''Reason'', May 2006.</ref>

After Wilson and Akre's contracts were not renewed, they filed a lawsuit concerning WTVT's "news distortion" under Florida's whistleblower laws, claiming their termination was retaliation for "resisting WTVT's attempts to distort or suppress the BGH story."<ref name="New World Communs 2003">''New World Communs. of Tampa, Inc. v. Akre'', 866 So. 2d 1231(2003)</ref> In a joint statement, Wilson claimed that he and Akre "were repeatedly ordered to go forward and broadcast demonstrably inaccurate and dishonest versions of the story," and "were given those instructions after some very high-level corporate lobbying by Monsanto (the powerful drug company that makes the hormone) and also ... by members of Florida's dairy and grocery industries."<ref>[http://www.foxbghsuit.com/sj040298.htm Prepared Statement]: Steve Wilson and Jane Akre, April 2, 1998. URL accessed April 8, 2010.</ref> The trial commenced in the summer of 2000 with a jury dismissing all of the claims brought to trial by Wilson, but siding with one aspect of Akre's complaint, awarding her $425,000 and agreeing that Akre was a whistleblower because she believed there were violations of the [[Communications Act of 1934]] and because she planned on reporting the station to the Federal Communications Commission. ''[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]]'' magazine, referring to the case, noted that Akre's argument in the trial was that Akre and Wilson believed news distortion occurred, but that they did not have to prove this was the case.<ref name="Reason, May 2006"/>

An appeal was filed, and a ruling in February 2003 came down in favor of WTVT, who successfully argued that the FCC policy against falsification was not a "law, rule, or regulation", and so the whistle-blower law did not qualify as the required "law, rule, or regulation" under section 448.102.... Because the FCC's news distortion policy is not a "law, rule, or regulation" under section 448.102, Akre has failed to state a claim under the whistle-blower's statute."<ref name="New World Communs 2003"/> The appeal did not address any falsification claims, noting that "as a threshold matter... Akre failed to state a claim under the whistle-blower's statute," but noted that the lower court ruled against all of Wilson's charges and all of Akre's claims with the exception of the whistleblower claim that was overturned.<ref name="New World Communs 2003"/>