美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Pink Slime' Trial Begins, But It's The News Media Under The Microscope

 

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

In a South Dakota courtroom, ABC News will defend a series of stories it reported five years ago in a defamation¹ lawsuit². Jury selection started today. It's a trial that could prove to be a measure of public attitudes toward the media.

Back in 2012, ABC correspondent Jim Avila reported on a practice of a South-Dakota-based company called Beef Products Inc. To lower the fat content of its ground beef, the company added something it called finely textured³ beef product made from the trimmings of the cow after it was butchered.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JIM AVILA: Seventy percent of the ground beef we buy at the supermarket contains something he calls pink slime.

SIEGEL: In that clip from the original reporting, Avila used the name for this substance that a former USDA scientist have given it - pink slime. And while ABC pointed⁴ out in their stories that the addition of pink slime was common and not unsafe to eat, it wasn't labeled.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

AVILA: The USDA is clear in saying pink slime is safe.

SIEGEL: Beef Product Inc. says sudden public awareness⁵ of something with such an unappetizing name cost them business and lead to plant closures and job losses. And in 2012, the company brought the suit that's now just coming to trial.

Well, joining us to talk about this case is Jane Kirtley. She's the director of the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics⁶ and Law at the University of Minnesota. Welcome to the program.

JANE KIRTLEY: Thank you.

SIEGEL: What does the company Beef Products Inc. have to show in court to win a defamation judgment⁷ against ABC News?

KIRTLEY: If what they're suing under is the agricultural disparagement⁸ law in South Dakota, they have to prove that ABC said that the beef product was unsafe to consume. If it's a common garden-variety libel case, they have to prove that what was published about them was false. And moreover, they have to show that ABC acted with what is called actual malice⁹.

SIEGEL: And is the company bringing its action under both laws?

KIRTLEY: It is suing under everything under the sun - product disparagement, interference with business operations and a variety of other claims.

SIEGEL: Can Beef Product Inc. argue successfully that by being the only company that was described doing this even though it was done by many other companies, that that constituted defamation in some way?

KIRTLEY: One of the questions about the agricultural disparagement law is whether it deals with the company or with the product itself. BPI has claimed that essentially¹⁰ what ABC has said is that they were complicit in mislabeling or not labeling when it was included in beef that was sold to consumers in grocery stores and so forth¹¹.

SIEGEL: This case reminds one of Bismarck's line that people who want to savor¹² either one shouldn't watch the process of making either sausage or laws. Making beef can look pretty ugly here. Is that essentially the essence of the lawsuit?

KIRTLEY: ABC actually did some reporting at BPI and showed what it characterized as a pristine¹³ plant with pristine processes. But the mere¹⁴ use of the phrase pink slime was something that captured the public imagination and I think frankly¹⁵ escalated¹⁶ the ick factor.

SIEGEL: This case comes to trial at a time when the so-called mainstream¹⁷ media, which would include ABC News, are routinely attacked for purveying¹⁸ fake news. And the president of the United States complains about lax libel laws. Is it possible that this case could possibly move the standard for defamation?

KIRTLEY: Well, it's only a trial decision at this point. So of course it would have no precedential value. But I do think it's a bellwether¹⁹ in the sense that it raises two very critical issues. One is that BPI claims that ABC was basically on a disinformation campaign, which is another way of saying fake news.

The other issue I think goes to the heart of what the media are supposed to be doing, which is informing the public about things that might be matters of interest to them but which corporate²⁰ America may not be interested in sharing with them. And I think that was ABC's justification²¹ for doing this story - simply to let people know that the substance was in their ground beef.

SIEGEL: Professor Kirtley, thank you very much for talking with us today.

KIRTLEY: Thank you.

SIEGEL: Professor Jane Kirtley of the University of Minnesota.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE BETA BAND SONG, "B+A")

1 defamation   

n.诽谤；中伤

参考例句：

• Character defamation can be either oral or written.人格诽谤既可以是口头的也可以是书面的。
• The company sued for defamation.这个公司因受到诽谤而提起诉讼。

2 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

3 textured   

adj.手摸时有感觉的, 有织纹的

参考例句：

• The shoe's sole had a slightly textured surface. 鞋底表面稍感粗糙。
• Shallow burial seems to preserve chalky textured porosity. 浅埋藏似能保留具白垩状结构的孔隙。

4 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

5 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

6 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

7 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

8 disparagement   

n.轻视，轻蔑

参考例句：

• He was humble and meek, filled with self-disparagement and abasement. 他谦卑、恭顺，满怀自我贬斥与压抑。 来自互联网
• Faint praise is disparagement. 敷衍勉强的恭维等于轻蔑。 来自互联网

9 malice   

n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋

参考例句：

• I detected a suggestion of malice in his remarks.我觉察出他说的话略带恶意。
• There was a strong current of malice in many of his portraits.他的许多肖像画中都透着一股强烈的怨恨。

10 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

11 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

12 savor   

vt.品尝，欣赏；n.味道，风味；情趣，趣味

参考例句：

• The soup has a savor of onion.这汤有洋葱味。
• His humorous remarks added a savor to our conversation.他幽默的话语给谈话增添了风趣。

13 pristine   

adj.原来的，古时的，原始的，纯净的，无垢的

参考例句：

• He wiped his fingers on his pristine handkerchief.他用他那块洁净的手帕擦手指。
• He wasn't about to blemish that pristine record.他本不想去玷污那清白的过去。

14 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

15 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

16 escalated   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The fighting escalated into a full-scale war. 这场交战逐步扩大为全面战争。
• The demonstration escalated into a pitched battle with the police. 示威逐步升级，演变成了一场同警察的混战。

17 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

18 purveying   

v.提供，供应( purvey的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She was not above purveying make-up tips through ladies' columns in newspapers. 她根本不屑于向各大报社的女性专栏供稿。 来自互联网

19 bellwether   

n.系铃的公羊，前导，领导者，群众的首领

参考例句：

• University campuses are often the bellwether of change.大学校园往往引领变革的新潮。
• For decades the company was the bellwether of the British economy.几十年来，这家公司一直是英国经济的晴雨表。

20 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

21 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。