Hidden Cameras
The use of hidden cameras for investigative reporting fell after ABC got smacked with a $2.47 billion lawsuit because it ran an undercover story in 1992 about the Food Lion grocery chain (an appeals court later reduced the award for damages to $2). Fortunately, it looks like they've made a strong comeback as part of some great stories.
Last week Tisha Thompson of Fox 5 in Washington, D.C., used hidden cameras to show that many metal detectors in crucial government buildings in the nation's capital don't work. Her "D.C. Metal Detectors" also revealed that even when the detectors do work, the guards often wave people through security. www.myfoxdc.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=6524686&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1
In "Juiced in the Valley," Josh Bernstein and his investigative team at ABC 15 in Phoenix used a hidden camera to expose how a medical clinic was prescribing steroids and human growth hormones to customers without a valid medical reason. www.abc15.com/content/news/investigators/story.aspx?content_id=5b2f3570-6fe6-4a54-b130-8e8ce56dce17
And hidden cameras helped Joseph Rhee and Asa Eslocker of ABC News catch Goodyear, Wal-Mart, and Sears selling tires more than six-years-old, beyond the recommended age limit for safe tires. ABC affiliates in San Francisco, Houston, Indianapolis, New Jersey and Orlando helped out in the excellent "Aged Tires Sold as 'New' by Big Retailers" investigation. http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4822250&page=1
Are there any hidden camera investigations that you recommend? If so, tell us about it in our comments section.