FOX Fair and Balanced? Not in this case!

From the Allied Pilots Association News Digest (The American Airlines Pilots Union)

Fox News: Fair and Balanced?

Earlier this week, we reported that APA requested that Fox News correct the title of a story that ran Tuesday concerning the sabotage allegations regarding 757 seat installation. While we have no objection to how the story depicts the current situation at American Airlines, the story's title on the Fox News web site appears to draw a connection between our pilots and the loose seats, which is wholly inaccurate.

To see the clip:

http://foxnewsinsider.com/2012/10/02/american-airlines-loose-seats-pilots-accused-sabotage-union-battle/

Then Thursday, FoxNews.com published an article that included several inflammatory comments by Kate Hanni, executive director of FlyersRights.org, a California-based airline passenger rights group. The comments included this quote regarding the loose 757 seats: "This was definitely a PR move on behalf of the American pilots' union."

APA Communications Committee Chairman FO Tom Hoban was asked to respond to the accusations, and he was also quoted in the article, saying Ms. Hanni's claim was "completely baseless."

Later Thursday, in an e-mail exchange between Ms. Hanni and one of our pilots, Ms. Hanni wrote: "I was misquoted by Fox. They made up my quotes out of thin air. And they are not writing a retraction."

To date, Fox has not responded to either APA's or Ms. Hanni's complaints about their coverage.


Text of APA's retraction request:

I am writing to strongly protest the title of the Trace Gallagher piece, “American Airlines Planes Grounded for Loose Seats as Pilots Accused of Sabotage,” which was posted to your web site at 4:51 EDT on Tuesday, Oct. 2. This title draws a connection between the pilots of American Airlines and the loose seats. The piece itself doesn’t make any such connection.
On behalf of the Allied Pilots Association (APA) and the 10,000 pilots of American Airlines we represent, I request that you modify the title immediately. Once again, as is, the title suggests a connection between the pilots of American Airlines and the loose seats when no such connection exists or has been alleged to exist by anyone close to this issue.
From firsthand experience I know Fraser Seitel to be a highly capable public relations consultant and I believe he describes the current situation involving APA and American Airlines quite accurately. However, the online title is anything but accurate.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions. Thank you for your prompt attention to this request.
Gregg Overman
Communications Director
Allied Pilots