Objections To Your Prejudicial and Unbalanced Newspaper Reporting

Objections to your prejudicial and unbalanced Newspaper reporting, Distortions And Unfair comments favoring the Dissolved Ethiopian Airports Enterprise at the expense of Ethiopian Airlines and The Newly Government statutorily established Ethiopian Airlines Group and the Group CEO

Urgent request To correct And put matters in true balance and perspective appropriately, Giving value to fair reporting And journalistic independence

Dear Managing Editor and Editor-in-Chief

Background of Complaint: This shall advise you that we are the fully and duly retained law firm of Ethiopian Airlines (ET) in the United States and North America and we represent the Airline re: the above referenced matter. We refer to your news article in the FORTUNE Newspaper front page of the Sunday, August 13, 2017 issue. The article makes a number of negative, disparaging, unbalanced and distorted assertions about the newly government statutorily established Ethiopian Airlines Group combining the former Ethiopian Airlines Enterprise and the Ethiopian Airports Enterprise.

In your said Sunday, August 13, 2017 issue of the Newspaper, in an article titled “The Airports Enterprise Bound To Airline” reporting on this subject, we are instructed to say that you clandestinely, unofficially and surreptitiously intercepted a Confidential Memo/Statement about the Ethiopian Airlines (ET) Group, written by the Group’s CEO and made use of this reporting to disparage the Group. This is totally reprehensible and unacceptable under the rules of modem journalism in balance reporting and truth-telling. In the report, ET and the ET Group are painted as wrong-headed and wrong-doers.

Please note the following complaints very carefully And correct your mistakes and errors promptly

1. Our first of several complaints is the Improper and Illegal Procurement By Fortune of The Group CEO’s Memorandum, a strictly internal and Confidential information and Memo addressed privately to the dissolved Ethiopian Airports Enterprise (EAE). Instead of virtually stealing the Memo, your paper should have legally and officially obtained said internal Confidential Memo by written request instead of illegally, clandestinely and improperly obtaining it. The Group CEO rejects completely this wholly unorthodox procurement as such is unprofessional journalistic practice and virtual stealing that must be condemned, completely rejected and promptly apologized for.
2. Analytically, the Article creates a negative impression of ET and its new Group, headed by the ET Head that absorbed EAE by Statutory Law. The newly restructured organization was duly Gazetted in the Federal Register of the Democratic Republic of Ethiopia dated July 20, 2017 Regulation No. 406/2017 which is notice to the whole world.
3. A typical example of self-serving reporting meant to mislead is, whereas it is clear from the Standard of Works, CEO of Ethiopian Airports Enterprise can expend more than ETB 150,000 with prior approval of the Group CEO, however, the Article used a catchy word (in the front page of the newspaper, in bold red color and Larger Font Size) saying “150,000 Br-the amount of money which the Enterprise can transact”. This would imply that EAE cannot expend more than 150,000 Br under any circumstance. This was a classic biased reporting calculated and meant to damage the new Group and ridicule the office before the public.

This is undoubtedly how Addis Fortune deliberately went on its avowed Mission, to mislead by twisting facts combined with innuendos, thus misguiding the general public.

4. In another misleading and damaging reporting, Fortune writes:

“Founded in 1945, Ethiopian Airlines claims to be sub-Saharan Africa’s largest carrier with more than 95 international and 21 domestic destinations.

Thus belittling the giant African Airline, Ethiopian Airlines, in a disrespectful way, when in fact it is all clearly and indisputably acclaimed internationally globally over in the entire world that Ethiopian Airlines is the Leading African Airlines by far and without any competition or reservation, established since 1945, 72 years.

Only Fortune says the “Airlines “claims” to be SubSaharan Africa’s largest carrier with more than 95 international and 21 domestic destinations.” Please be advised and reminded that the Whole World knows this except Addis Fortune. It is NOT a claim, it is a Fact.

It is as if we are reminded of the biblical saying:  “A prophet is not respected in and has no honor in his own hometown. ”

From the foregoing, your publication has clearly denigrated, defamed, insulted and belittled ET and the Ethiopian Airlines Group and we ask for immediate unqualified apology and factual corrections.

Your Mission is an unholy one meant to disgrace and embarrass the newly created and decreed Ethiopian Airlines Group and its newly appointed Group CEO. It is not only unpatriotic of your paper but most importantly, it is a grave disservice to Ethiopia as a nation, and an insult to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

Fortune’s Long Standing Appetite And Agenda To Damage ET: Most importantly and historically, according to our instructions and our legal research into Addis Fortune in 2012 in similar circumstances, and over the years, Fortune has built an antagonistic agenda against ET, acquired and cultivated the appetite and penchant to periodically attack and accuse ET in misleading, unfair and distorted publications clearly calculated to tarnish the good name and reputation of the national flag carrier without any justification.

On some of these occasions that you made these unfair and unbalanced news reports in your paper, the Legal Counsel’s office had written protesting that your journalism was unprofessional and unfair. Because there is no truth in your insults and false allegations, which are clearly unfair and disparaging of the Airline, we hereby demand for this latest bad reporting to cease forthwith plus a timely unconditional correction of the cited portions of your wrong reporting and the erroneous assertions made in the August 13, 2017 issue.

Important Considerations: The ET Group reiterates that this Newspaper has a consistent agenda to write negative news, unsubstantiated and unverified false statements, against ET, clearly the paper enjoys and relishes doing so to cause havoc to ET. Please be advised that ET has earned its. enviable global international reputation as one of the best if not the best African Airline, the hard way and intends to keep and protect this reputation at all cost. The Airline would not allow your paper or any other paper or organizations for that matter to play with its hard earned reputation and bring the Airline to public ridicule, such conduct would be resisted with all the power and the law at the behest of Ethiopian Airlines. In your presentation, your paper shows undisputed bias and clearly sides with the Ethiopian Airport Enterprise (EAE), this is unfair to the new Group and must cease, your paper should be fair, unbiased and independent.

ACCORDINGLY: TAKE NOTICE AND NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT:

For the avoidance of any doubts, we demand prompt corrective action on your part. If you fail to correct the errors in your subject article within seven (7) business days from date hereof and particularly those cited, further legal measures and defamation proceedings will be appropriately instituted against Addis Fortune without any further reference to you. Those proceedings would seek without limitation substantial, aggravated, huge and punitive damages before the appropriate Courts in the United States of America including Courts in New York and Virginia due to and based on the global worldwide distribution and the extensive internet online reaches of the paper. Finally, we urge you to cease your biased negative reporting and be fair to the new Group.

In all, all we ask for and urge you to do is to be fair and independent minded, addressing and treating our concerns with the same publicity and wide global circulation as was accorded your subject article, giving credit where credit is due, devoid of your brand, vintage, usually extremely particular meanness reserved only for the ET Group and its world acclaimed CEO.

Sincerely,

Michael Atadika, Esq