Back in my journalism school days, ABC v. Food Lion was referenced as the precedent for undercover reporting. In this case, Two ABC reporters got jobs working at a Food Lion in North Carolina and taped footage of the store selling spoiled meat.
Food Lion sued for unfair trade practices, fraud, breach of contract, etc. ABC was fined $5.5 million, but that was later reduced to about $300,000, according to a quick Google search.
This was used to illustrate why journalists must disclose that they are journalists and should avoid undercover methods, as written in the journalism code of ethics.
Sources:
http://lawclassolemiss.wordpress.com/2010/04/05/food-lion-in...
http://www.poynter.org/uncategorized/2125/abc-and-food-lion-...
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/09/arts/beyond-abc-v-food-lio...
http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp
Edit: Also interesting, but not quite as relevant, is the Chiquita/Cincinnati Enquirer scandal that happened around the same time.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2011/07/chiqu...
Food Lion sued for unfair trade practices, fraud, breach of contract, etc. ABC was fined $5.5 million, but that was later reduced to about $300,000, according to a quick Google search.
This was used to illustrate why journalists must disclose that they are journalists and should avoid undercover methods, as written in the journalism code of ethics.
Sources:
http://lawclassolemiss.wordpress.com/2010/04/05/food-lion-in...
http://www.poynter.org/uncategorized/2125/abc-and-food-lion-...
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/09/arts/beyond-abc-v-food-lio...
http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp
Edit: Also interesting, but not quite as relevant, is the Chiquita/Cincinnati Enquirer scandal that happened around the same time.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2011/07/chiqu...