FORMER GANNETT REPORTER WINS DEFAMATION CASE

By: Randy Dotinga 'Florida Today' Publisher Plans To Appeal Decision


Former reporter Kathy Reakes acknowledges that she strolled into a murder
suspect's apartment without permission. But she says her boss at Florida
Today was wrong to call her a criminal, and this week a Florida jury agreed,
issuing an award of $410,500.

The whopping award came five years after Florida Today fired Reakes.
Gannett Co. Inc., owner of the Melbourne paper, plans to appeal.

"To some extent, my name has been cleared," Reakes, 45, told E&P. "Now
I'll have a chance to get back into newspapering."

Her legal saga began in 1996 when Reakes and another reporter, John McAleenan,
entered the apartment of a jailed murder suspect. McAleenan took away a list of
telephone numbers, Reakes said, while she only stayed in the home for a few
seconds. The next day, the newspaper fired both reporters. Local prosecutors
declined to pursue a case against them, and they sued the newspaper. (McAleenan
later dropped his suit, Reakes said.)

The seven-member jury found former managing editor Melinda Meers defamed Reakes
by referring to her "criminal acts" in a conversation with an assistant managing
editor. Meers denied saying the specific phrase, but the jury awarded $400,000
to Reakes for the comments of Meers and $500 for comments made in a speech by
Gannett news executive Phil Currie, who reportedly told colleagues that two
Florida reporters "appear to be heroes" for having broken the law. Reakes also
received $10,000 for other damages.

"We are disappointed in the verdict but are committed to pursuing this case
further," Florida Today attorney Jack Kirschenbaum said in a written
statement. "There are very important issues still to be addressed by the trial
and appellate courts."

Reakes, who now works as a waitress, said, "I still don't think I committed a
crime. I felt like I was doing my job."



Randy Dotinga is a free-lancer based in San Diego. He writes frequently
for E&P.



Copyright 2001, Editor & Publisher.