Without question, one of the most highly publicized and closely watched lawsuits of late has been Food Lion and ABC's ongoing battle over an ABC report about conditions in Food Lion stores based on journalists who went undercover for a 1992 story.
The case is one that clearly magnifies how quickly media relations can fall in corporate priority when a company's bottom line is threatened.
Food Lion was awarded $5.5 million in punitive damages linked to the ABC exclusive but the fight continues because ABC has appealed the decision. And in a recent twist, 20 media organizations filed on March 18 a friend of the court brief in U.S. District Court in Winston Salem, N.C., in support of ABC.
Included as parties in the brief are heavies CBS, Dow Jones & Co. Inc. [DJ], NBC, The Associated Press and The National Association of Broadcasters.
But Chris Ahearn, corporate communications manager for Food Lion, told PR NEWS the grocery chain didn't file the lawsuit against ABC to affect how newsgathering is conducted in this country or to squelch information. Rather, she said, it was because the company "felt it had been wronged."
"We didn't take on the media [as a whole]," Ahearn said several days after the friend of the court brief was filed. "This involves ABC - not all media outlets - and it was a narrowly focused case based on one story and it shouldn't have First Amendment implications."
Ahearn, who said the company's media relations hasn't been affected by the lawsuit, did acknowledge, however, that there have been those in PR and related industries who have criticized the corporation for suing ABC over the story which many people still feel was truthful.
There have been "divergent opinions and intelligent discussion" triggered by the case, she agreed. Food Lion execs had to think long and hard about whether it would affect their dealings with journalists when they decided to file the civil lawsuit, she added.
"[But] we found we haven't burned any media bridges," Ahearn added. "I still work with national and regional writers and broadcasters on a regular basis."
Food Lion won its lawsuit in January after a 12-member jury - which earlier found that ABC and its producers had committed fraud - awarded $5.5 million after more than five days of jury deliberation. (RTNDA, 202/659-6510; Chris Ahearn, 704/633-8250)