So you tell them how to get the most protection. The alleged victimizers sometimes sue. Juries and judges in the last few years have felt that the media have gotten too aggressive, too much involved in people's private lives. That didn't save Dateline NBC in 1992, when an overzealous producer doctored a GM truck with explosives to make better pictures during a staged crash. GM sued and won a large settlement.
Corporate chieftains have shareholder value in mind.
They have to. It's a systemic problem arising out of the ownership structure. When Disney owned The Kansas City Star before selling to Knight Ridder three years ago, all controversial stories and potentially problematic investigative series were vetted by Disney corporate counsel in New York. They didn't know if I'd been a reporter for twenty-five years, which I have, or two. It was frustrating.