Food Lion v. ABC ABC’s Primetime Live is tipped off about unsanitary

practices at Food Lion grocery stores.

Tainted meat was apparently being sold, along with products with past due dates.

Dirty cutting and packaging equipment were apparently being used.

Continued:“The broadcast included, for example, videotape that appeared to show Food Lion employees repackaging and redating fish that had passed the expiration date, grinding expired beef with fresh beef, and applying barbeque sauce to chicken past its expiration date in order to mask the smell and sell it as fresh in the gourmet food section. The program included statements by former Food Lion employees alleging even more serious mishandling of meat at Food Lion stores across several states.”

What ABC ended up doing Producers applied for jobs at Food Lions with fake

resumes and manufactured references.

Used hidden cameras to get footage of the different transgressions being committed.

Edited film and presented it in a way that wasn’t entirely true to actual events.

Food Lion fights back Food Lion sues ABC, but did “not sue for defamation,

but focused on how ABC gathered its information through claims for fraud, breach of duty of loyalty, trespass, and unfair trade practices.”

Launches a salvo at ABC, a special that details how sanitary their conditions are and exposes the discrepancies with ABC’s report.

Special shows outtakes that include what seems to be ABC setting up some of the dirty conditions, as well as a biased attitude against Food Lion.

Supreme Court Ruling Court decisions originally favor Food Lion, but are

overturned.

While the court determined that what ABC did was wrong, it could not be proven that ABC caused the lost profits.

Journalistic conduct ABC reporters were seen on film saying things like

“let’s get them!” and cursing when employees actually cleaned up and did their job.

Is this okay?

Is this proper behavior for a journalist? Why or why not?

Was it right? Was it worth it? While the journalists did serve a purpose, did they do

it the right way?

Was it worth it for them to unearth the facts that came to light thanks to their work, but through questionable tactics?

Would you do what ABC did?

How could ABC done a better job with the case?

What would you have done differently?

Tainting the information Though facts were exposed, they were tainted because

of the methods used to get them.

They ended up hurting their cause at the same time that they were making it.

The bottom line As important as it is to break news and get stories as

journalists, it is equally important to make sure you are being ethical while you do it.