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N
E W S October
15, 2003: Illinois, USA Republican U.S. Senate candidate Chirinjeev Singh filed a substantial lawsuit Tuesday morning suing Chicago Tribune reporters Rick Pearson and Andrew Zajac personally and the Chicago Tribune corporally for $100 Million in damages resulting from the searing story "Senate Candidate Too Good to be True," published October 11 and 12. Chirinjeev Singh appeared in a press conference to respond to the "front page smear piece" the same morning. He refuted charges that the Tribune made that his resume and background were "too good to be true." He made key documents available to the media and the public to prove that his resume and background were strong and completely verifiable. The Tribune article criticized Chirinjeev Singh for not being a registered voter and for holding an "Ivy League medical degree but has never practiced [medicine]." Most of the article focused on shooting down his business ventures saying that they were failures, or that Chirinjeev Singh did not have much of a role in the ones that were successful. The article relied on quotes from disgruntled business associates and focused only on the aspects of his business career which were not successful. The article made Chirinjeev Singh's accomplishments seem exaggerated and went on to attack his credibility in future business relationships. "[Chirinjeev Singh] is not only using his resume to try to win votes, but also to woo business partners." The law suit charges the Chicago Tribune of "malice aforethought, defamation of character, false and unsubstantiated claims, willful misleading and tortuous interference with contractual relationships." In a press release, Chirinjeev Singh stated: "The Chicago Tribune and its political reporters must be held accountable to write fair and balanced articles on all the candidates. We must remember it is the people of Illinois who decide who gets elected, not the reporters at the Chicago Tribune. This type of irresponsible trash reporting will never stop, unless someone takes a stand against it. I will carry this fight to save my reputation on behalf of all the people of Illinois and make politics a level playing field for all candidates…" "The Chicago Tribune was well aware of all of [my] accomplishments, yet chose to slant the story maliciously," said Chirinjeev. The Chicago Tribune stood by its reporters. The Tribune reporters also slammed the national and international media such as CNN, BBC and the Economist for giving positive coverage of Chirinjeev's campaign, saying, "the unquestioning nature of much of the reporting… is indicative of a media that is willing to allow the entertainment value of a story color news judgement," insinuating that these media houses did not do their job of checking their stories. The press had been nothing but positive thus far. Chirinjeev Singh is worth between $30 Million - $100 Million.
He must have done something right. Copyright
©The Sikh Sentinel 2003 |