A rule that is embedded in the minds of all journalism students — print, public relations, electronic and advertising — is that a story, press release or advertisement must be complete, fair and accurate. In a stunning and disappointing decision by the Florida Second District Court of Appeals this month, the judges overturned a $425,000 jury award to TV investigative journalist Jane Akre.

Akre had sued her former employer, Fox affiliate WTVT-Channel 13, with her husband, Steve Wilson — also a former TV investigative journalist for Channel 13 — when they were fired in 1997 and accused their employers of wrongful termination. Akre and Wilson say they were fired after threatening to alert the Federal Communications Commission that Channel 13 was not allowing them to air a news story accurately, according to the St. Petersburg Times.

The appeals court said Akre had failed to show the station had violated the state’s law for protecting whistle-blowers.

The court’s decision is a letdown to journalists and viewers everywhere and it shows that, unfortunately, big business can succeed in getting in the way of a sometimes painfully fair story.

Akre and Wilson claim that while conducting a story about the artificial growth hormone rBGH, WTVT and Fox executives encouraged the inclusion of a statement by the company that produced the hormone which the couple believed to be false. The journalists maintain that the hormone, which is used on cows, is found in distributed milk in Florida supermarket chains and raises the risk for breast cancer, colon cancer and tumors in women who breast-feed, according to the St. Petersburg Times. The couple also claims that the station offered to pay their salaries for the balance of their contracts to secure their silence.

WTVT’s response is that “The station categorically denies that it ever asked Wilson or Akre to include false information in the piece. The reporters were not willing to be objective in the story.”

Because of the verdict, it will make it more difficult for stories such as these to air or make it to print. Akre and Wilson are well-respected within their field. With Wilson, an Emmy winner, moving on to an ABC affiliate in Detroit. Akre also made a contribution to the book “Into the Buzzsaw: Leading Journalists Expose the Myth of a Free Press.” The husband-and-wife team also had former presidential candidate Ralph Nader on their side to testify during the 1998 trial when a jury ruled in favor of the couple.

Akre said in an interview before this month’s decision that a ruling in favor of Fox would make it more difficult for journalists to get their job done. With this lurking in the shadows, it will only be another hurdle to hinder journalists from doing their jobs and providing information to the people. Editorial Board: Cavan Reagan, Amber Billings, Ayrel Clark, Charlie Weaver, Katie List