Opinion ID: 686722
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Authority of the Journalism Interpretations

Text: 48 The Secretary's journalism interpretations have not changed in any material respect since 1949, long before the newspaper industry evolved into its current form. The parties vigorously dispute what weight, if any, courts should give these interpretations when they apply the regulation. The Monitor asks us to declare that the interpretations are obsolete and invalid because they do not reflect the complexities and rigors of modern journalism. The Secretary contends that the interpretations are still highly relevant because the technological and societal changes of the last forty years have not altered the day-to-day duties of the majority of reporters. 49 This is the central issue on appeal. Once the district court accepted them as persuasive authority, the Secretary's interpretations were nearly conclusive on the exemption issues. The Monitor made a less extensive effort to prove that its employees performed analytical, interpretative or highly individualized work. The Monitor made no significant attempt to differentiate the work of its reporters, photographers, and editors from the work done at every newspaper throughout the country. Therefore, in light of The Monitor 's trial strategy, if we decline to invalidate the journalism interpretations, the record will almost certainly compel us to affirm the district court's decision on the exemption issues. 50 As we noted above, although the Secretary's interpretations are not controlling, courts may refer to them for guidance. Skidmore v. Swift & Co., 323 U.S. at 139-40, 65 S.Ct. at 164. In making a similar determination, 5 the Supreme Court noted:[w]e consider that the rulings, interpretations and opinions of the Administrator under this Act, while not controlling upon the courts by reason of their authority, do constitute a body of experience and informed judgment to which courts and litigants may properly resort for guidance. The weight of such a judgment in a particular case will depend upon the thoroughness evident in its consideration, the validity of its reasoning, its consistency with earlier and later pronouncements, and all those factors which give it power to persuade, if lacking power to control. 51 Skidmore, 323 U.S. at 140, 65 S.Ct. at 164. The Monitor contends that the district court misapplied Skidmore. Specifically, The Monitor asserts that any reliance on the Secretary's interpretations was erroneous because they are outdated, inconsistent with other agency pronouncements, and contain vague and undefined terms. 6 52 As a preliminary matter, we discuss the standard of review appropriate for appellate scrutiny of a district court's Skidmore analysis. 7 Although we have not previously addressed this issue, the Fifth Circuit provides meaningful guidance. In Dalheim v. KDFW-TV, a television station charged with violating the FLSA's overtime provisions made essentially the same argument asserted by The Monitor: that the district court gave the interpretations undue weight, thus blinding itself to the realities of modern broadcast journalism. 918 F.2d 1220, 1228 (5th Cir.1990). The Fifth Circuit reasoned that a district court's Skidmore analysis is merely a fact-specific inquiry to determine whether the interpretation reflects an analogy useful in deciding the case before it. Id. Thus, any attempt to debunk the analogy between the interpretation's portrayal of broadcasting and journalism as they existed in the 1940's and broadcast journalism as it exists today is a veiled attack on the district court's findings of fact. Id. Consequently, because a district court's Skidmore analysis is fact-based, we review it subject to the clearly erroneous standard of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 52(a). 53 Both the Secretary and The Monitor presented extensive expert testimony as to whether the technological and societal changes of the past forty years have rendered the Secretary's journalism interpretations obsolete. The Secretary presented the testimony of Ben Bagdikian, Dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley. Mr. Bagdikian testified that although the field of journalism has changed radically, these changes do not warrant modifying the Secretary's view that most journalists do not qualify as exempt professionals under the FLSA. In his view, the focus of the majority of journalists is the same today as it was forty years ago: to report disciplined observations of public people and public events. This testimony essentially ends appellate review of the matter. It was neither severely impeached nor inherently implausible, and [o]nce credited, it supported the district court's rationale almost singlehandedly. Rivera- Gomez v. de Castro, 900 F.2d 1, 4 (1st Cir.1990). Although The Monitor presented conflicting testimony, the district court's decision to accept the interpretations as persuasive authority cannot be said to be clearly erroneous. 8