Investigative journalism by the TV networks has been in decline, per Broadcasting & Cable, and the networks’ general enfeeblement is only one reason: targets of hostile journalism are now more apt to sic their lawyers on news operations. What gets chilled is not just the shoddy litigation-sourced reportage typified by the NBC “Dateline”-GM trucks scandal, but also more aboveboard and defensible coverage of business failings:
In 2003, “A Dangerous Business,” a [PBS “Frontline”] report examining the water and sewer pipe industry in Texas, kicked off a four-year legal battle. Reported by Bergman and accompanied by a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times series, the report detailed egregious workplace safety violations that caused systemic maiming and, in several cases, gruesome deaths of workers.
“That was a great drain and if it wasn’t for The Times, I fear that we might have been in a position where our insurance company would have said, why don’t we just settle this?” says Frontline executive producer David Fanning.
A Texas judge dismissed the suit last year. But Fanning and Bergman are now working to establish a pro-bono team of lawyers to help insulate Frontline from legal threats.
“It’s not that we’re not careful,” Fanning adds. “It’s a question of what it does to you the next time round. Do you find yourself pulling back? Do you find yourself looking over your shoulder?”
(Marisa Guthrie, “Investigative Journalism Under Fire”, Jun. 22).
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