TV Addict Sues Charter-- or Not?

All right. So the man who was going to sue Charter Cable because he was addicted to cable TV has changed his mind. I heard it first from overlawyered.com. He's not suing Charter after all.

Here's the question: Why was this story ever reported in the first place? As far as I can tell, the "tempest in a cable box" (overlawyered's phrase) started at a news outlet in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. The man-addicted-to-cable-TV threatened to sue, but hadn't yet. Don't people (and businesses) threaten lawsuits a thousand times a day? Not newsworthy, unless you're a tort reformer hoping to create an urban legend. The man didn't even have a lawyer.

Even so, the story of the man-addicted-to-cable-TV will soon enter the public imagination, like the McDonald's burn case, as yet another example of lawyers gone wild. Before you know it, the story won't be about a man who threatened to sue Charter -- they're going to say he did.

Oops, too late. It's already happened. From a website affiliated with the Seattle Times:

The quest to eliminate all personal responsibility for anything continues. A man has sued Charter Communications, a cable TV provider, saying that cable TV is addictive and it has resulted in his wife’s obesity and his kids’ laziness.

("Lawsuit, lawsuits, lawsuits," by Nigel Stark ) (emphasis my own). And here's another example. And here, and here. In fact, Google quickly yielded thirty such links. It's enough to make a plaintiffs' lawyer want to pull his hair out . . .

Comments

[Al]

I was happy to see you bring up the point that what we see and read on TV and in the newspapers is incomplete and slanted. The general public needs to know the facts behind news stories, as well as lawsuits. To publish incomplete and inaccurate stories - and most are - is negligent and incompetent journalism. The public should hold the news agencies accountable for such publications. It's too bad that the 1st Amendment protects so much of their garbage. But, what can we do? Can anyone name even one publication that presents stories factually and without bias on a routine basis? If so, I will certainly subscribe.