Putting a price on the tragedy. (Editorials).(Viacom may file insurance claim related to terrorist attacks)(Brief Article)

Broadcasting & Cable, January, 2003

The story goes that Harry Truman wanted to find a one-handed economist because he got tired of hearing "... on the other hand." Well, if we were a one-kneed editorial page, this piece would have taken a dramatically different tack. When we first heard that Viacom was trying to file a 9/11 claim on its insurance (see story, page 16), arguing that it was obliged to forfeit ad revenue to fulfill its public-interest requirement of covering the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, our knee-jerk reaction was "how low can you go." Our second reaction, after much reflection, was that CBS paid for a policy covering business interruptions and, if the loss or some part of it can be covered by that policy, the company likely has a fiduciary duty to make such a claim.

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