February 2000 – Houston station KHOU TV reports on problems of Firestone tires on Ford Explorer vehicles.
Anna Werner, a reporter for KHOU-TV in Houston, was a member of the station’s investigative unit called “The Defenders.” In November 1999, she had called an attorney to see if he had any story ideas. The attorney alerted her to a case in which the tread had come off a Firestone tire and caused an accident. In February 2000, the station ran its story, using examples of accidents and people’s deaths to explain the problem. The story disclosed similar accidents in other parts of the country, and it also quoted a former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration head stating that the tires needed to be recalled. Firestone immediately sent a letter to KHOU, accusing it of “falsehoods and misrepresentations” in its story.
No other media picked up on the story until the summer, when they were spurred by other issues related to the Firestone/Ford problems. Regulators began an investigation in early May, shortly after a Chicago Sun-Times series on other tire problems. Two judges ordered that depositions in two Firestone lawsuits be opened to the public in May and July, and in late July, KHOU learned that Ford was replacing Firestone tires on its Explorers in three South American countries.
On Aug. 2, 2000, however, two business reporters for USA Today wrote a story that added pressure on the companies and the federal government to act. The story disclosed that Firestone and Ford had known about the problem dating back to 1992, and that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was also aware of the problem.
Within a week, Firestone announced a recall of 6.5 million tires after negotiations with Ford and the federal agency. Ford CEO Jacques Nasser lauded KHOU’s coverage during the news conference, saying, “They deserved a medal, actually.”