Tag: coverage

$1.2 billion defamation suit against ABC News pending, while BPI tries to get case back to South Dakota Court

Media
by Sam Robinson

Beef Products Inc., the South Dakota-based company suing ABC News for defamation, has asked that the case be returned to South Dakota state court and out of federal jurisdiction. The Jan. 17 article by Reuters, headlined “BPI wants ABC ‘pink slime’ defamation case back in state court,” reports that “BPI’s attorneys argued that a state court is the proper forum because the case also involves two related companies: BPI Technology Inc. and Freezing Machines Inc. that do business in South Dakota and are incorporated in Delaware. BPI and the two other entities are all owned by Eldon and Regina Roth.”

The hero-whore discrepancy

Media
by Sam Robinson

The sports section of the New York Times’ “Today’s Headlines” email update was full of stories about fallen heroes. “Dispassionate End to a Crumbled American Romance” is one of the articles about Lance Armstrong’s overdue confession to using performance-enhancing drugs. “Image Becomes a Puzzle as Theories on Te’o Swirl” is an article about the odd case of Notre Dame football star Manti Te’o and his fake, dead girlfriend. Many people are talking about these two stories as isolated events of deception. To me, these are just current examples of how easily men (especially male athletes) can – and do – fool the public and the media. Both want to idolize men and make them larger than life. Even when red flags are present, most media don’t do the work because they don’t want to dethrone a hero. Women, however, frequently are doubted and questioned by the public and the media. Women frequently are shamed, blamed and dragged through the mud by the media, especially in stories dealing with sexual assault.