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Dallas TV anchor drops suit against authors, media organizations
By ANITA KUMAR © St. Petersburg Times, published September 19, 2000 ST. PETERSBURG -- A Dallas television anchor dropped his lawsuit against three media ethics experts and two journalism organizations, including the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, after they admitted he was incorrectly portrayed in an ethics textbook. Mike Snyder, who has worked for KXAS-TV for nearly two decades, filed a defamation and libel suit in March in Tarrant County, Texas, accusing the authors and the distributors of Doing Ethics in Journalism of damaging his reputation. The authors, the Society of Professional Journalists and the Poynter Institute have agreed to stop distributing the book and will circulate statements expressing regret about the book. "To say I'm pleased would be an understatement," Snyder said. "We pretend to be a profession that polices itself, but this shows we still have work to do. . . . This was about restoration of professional integrity." As part of the settlement, authors Jay Black, Bob Steele and Ralph Barney acknowledge that the book "contains an inaccurate story based in part on facts that do not exist" and regret the harm it caused Snyder. "Newspapers, magazines and other publications do make factual errors," Steele, director of the ethics program at Poynter, said Monday. "We were willing to correct those errors and apologize to Mr. Snyder. We have held ourselves publicly accountable." Black is a University of South Florida mass communications professor. Barney is a professor emeritus at Brigham Young University. The suit named the Poynter Institute and James Naughton, president of the school for journalists, which promoted and used the book; the Society of Professional Journalists, which sponsored the book; and the authors. The Poynter Institute holds controlling stock in the Times Publishing Co., which publishes the St. Petersburg Times. "We were not publisher of the book and had no involvement in it," Naughton said Monday. "But we understand there were errors in that section of the book and in assisting in the resolution of the dispute, we agree to stop distributing the book." The settlement also includes the following terms: The book, which sells for about $34, will no longer be sold. No future editions will mention Snyder. SPJ and the authors will publish a statement in Quill, which is a journalism trade magazine. The Poynter Institute will issue a separate statement in Quill and its newsletter. SPJ and the Poynter Institute will post the statements on their Web sites for 120 days. SPJ will send the statement to all colleges known to be using the handbook and a list of other schools provided by Snyder. The Poynter Institute will send a correction, along with the two statements, to people who bought the book and those believed to have received a copy while attending a Poynter program. SPJ will reimburse Snyder almost $18,000 for his legal fees. "There is never any joy in settling cases," said attorney Bruce Sanford, who represented SPJ and the three authors. "(But) it is the right thing to do. It is the rational thing to do. There were errors, and they were acknowledged. . . . Everybody makes mistakes." The book describes a 1994 incident in which Snyder acted as a master of ceremonies at political rallies for George W. Bush, then a Texas gubernatorial candidate, and introduced him as "the next governor of Texas," according to the suit. Snyder said he never acted as a master of ceremonies or served as a volunteer for Bush. He said he attended a Republican women's picnic as a favor to a friend at which he introduced U.S. Rep. Richard Armey of Texas and thanked people for attending. He said he was asked, but declined, to introduce Bush and New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman. He said his only comment about Bush being the next governor was to an upset child and his mother in the parking lot. The comment was overheard by a print journalist and published, he said. Snyder said he received a two-week unpaid suspension, amounting to about $15,000 in pay and benefits, for participating in the picnic, which he called a slip in judgment.
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