FOOD LION BACKERS SEEK MEDIA STANDARDS

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 25, 1993                   TAG: 9303250101
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
FOOD LION BACKERS SEEK MEDIA STANDARDS
Activist groups that include stockholders and employees of Food Lion Inc., said Wednesday they plan to meet with 16 members of Congress to push for federal laws to monitor "truth in journalism."
The grocery chain has been under intense media scrutiny in recent months following a television documentary that alleged questionable marketing of meat and seafood.
Food Lion's Pride, an organization that includes the supermarket chain's shareholders, and Save The Lion, an employee group, kicked off their effort Wednesday in Salisbury, N.C., where the company and the groups are based.
Members gave North Carolina Rep. Bill Hefner a petition urging passage of laws setting media standards.
Hefner, a Democrat, said he is working on a bill that would recommend guidelines for responsible reporting.
"I'm not for censorship," said Hefner, a former radio broadcaster. "I think people in power should be responsible for what they put on the air."
The activist organizations were formed last year after ABC News' "PrimeTime Live" broadcast a segment accusing Food Lion workers of repackaging out-of-date meat and of not meeting sanitary standards in some stores.
Food Lion maintains that the story was fabricated. ABC acknowledges that it used deceptive methods to gain access to Food Lion meat departments and delis but has contended its reports are accurate.
Food Lion officials say they support the lobbying effort but are not financing it. Spokesman Mike Mozingo said the employees involved were taking vacation time to participate.
However, he said that the drop in Food Lion stock and the slowing of the company's expansion program directly affect the group's members.
One of about every 10 people in the Salisbury-Rowan County area is a Food Lion shareholder, Mozingo said. Plus, the company is that area's largest non-government employer.
Mozingo said some employees saw a drop in their profit-sharing accounts because of the grocery chain's declining revenues.
Food Lion pays full-time employees and part-timers who have worked as much as 1,000 hours a year the equivalent of 15 percent of their gross salaries as profit-sharing, he said.
He said about 16 percent of the profit-sharing account was invested in Food Lion stock in 1992 and that investment decreased about 9.5 percent.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB