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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
ATLANTA DIVISION

JOIN RAMSEY, PATSY RAMSEY and

----------------- ---------------------------------------------- X

BURKE RAMSEY, a minor, by his

next friends and natural parents,
JOHN RAMSEY and PATSY RAMSEY,

FEB 19 2~~4
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[)r-)utv Clerk

CASE NO. : 1 03 CV-3976 (TWT)

Plaintiffs,
vs

FOX NEWS NETWORK, L.L.C., d/b/a

Fox News Channel,
Defendant.

DECLARATION OF DENIS KING IN

SUPPORT OF DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO TRANSFER VENUE
1, DENIS KING, declare as follows:
I am the Denver, Colorado Bureau Chief for Fox News Network, LLC
(the "Fox News Channel" or "Defendant"), the defendant in this action. I have
personal knowledge of the facts set forth in this Declaration and, if called as a
witness, I could and would testify competently to such facts under oath. I submit
this Declaration in support of the Defendant's motion, pursuant to 28 U.S .C .
1404(a), for an order transferring this action in its entirety to the United States
District Court for the District of Colorado.
2.

1 reside in Westminster, Colorado and work as the Bureau Chief for

Fox News Channel's Denver Bureau .

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3.

The Fox News Channel is the number-one rated, 24-hour a day, 7-day

a week national cable television news network . As the Denver Bureau Chief, I am
responsible for the initial approval of all of the news reports generated by the
Bureau and for overseeing all aspects of the Bureau's operation.
4.

The Fox News Channel's Denver Bureau covers a wide geographic

area, including the following ten states : Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Nebraska,
North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Utah. These states
comprise over 936,000 square miles.
5.

Despite the vast geographic expanse covered by the Fox News

Channel's Denver Bureau, there are only eight employees in the Bureau. The eight
employees are:
"

Alicia Acuna: On-Air Correspondent

"

Damon Blick : Producer

"

Brian Boyd : Photographer/Editor

"

Kelly Burke : Producer

"

Michael Butler: Technician

"

Lloyd Gottschalk : Photographer/Editor

"

Denis King : Bureau Chief

"

Carol McKinley : On-Air Correspondent

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To my knowledge, all eight Fox News Channel employees in the Denver Bureau
reside in Colorado .
6.

I understand that plaintiffs John Ramsey, Patsy Ramsey and Burke

Ramsey claim they have been defamed by a December 2002 Fox News Channel
report marking the six-year anniversary of the unsolved death of JonBenet Ramsey
in her Boulder, Colorado home (the "News Report"), and have filed a defamation
action in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
7.

I personally approved the initial idea for the News Report, and

reviewed and approved written copy of drafts of the News Report while I was in
Colorado .
8.

Carol McKinley, a Fox News Channel reporter based in Colorado,

researched, wrote and prepared the News Report while in Colorado .

9.

Kelly Burke, a Fox News Channel employee based in Fox News

Channel's Denver Bureau, produced the News Report while in Colorado.

10 .

Lloyd Gottschalk, a Fox News Channel employee based in Fox News

Channel's Denver Bureau, edited the News Report while in Colorado .

11 .

Damon Blick, a Fox News Channel employee based in Fox News

Channel's Denver Bureau, assisted with video for the News Report while in
Colorado.

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12.

All of the production work, including putting the News Report into a

format that could be cablecast nationally on the Fox News Channel, took place in
Colorado . Once the News Report was ready to be cablecast, we played the taped
portions of the News Report in Colorado while fiber optics allowed employees at
Fox News Channel's New York headquarters to record the material and then later
cablecast it on the Fox News Channel .
13 .

The documents pertinent to the News Report and retained by Denver

Bureau Fox News Channel employees are located in Colorado.

14.

It would be disruptive and a burden for me professionally to travel

from my home in Colorado to Georgia to appear for a deposition and/or potential

trial of this matter . My position as Bureau Chief requires me to be on call at all
times in the event of breaking news . Even my scheduled vacations are flexible if a
major story breaks . As a result, it is inconvenient for me professionally to devote
several days to a potential trial out of state.
15 .

A potential trial of this action in Georgia would also work a

substantial hardship on the employees of Fox News Channel's Denver Bureau .

Because of the size of the Denver Bureau, even a small story requires a significant
number of our employees . Every story requires at least a correspondent, a
producer and a photographer/editor. However, when a major story is unfolding in

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our geographic region, it is not uncommon for the entire Bureau to be involved .
Just in the last few years, the entire Bureau has been called upon to cover major
developing stories, including the Columbine school shootings and the kidnapping
of Elizabeth Smart. The Columbine school shootings involved two months of
intensive coverage spearheaded by the Denver Bureau, and the Elizabeth Smart
kidnapping required our Bureau to have at least one person in Salt Lake City, Utah
every day for five weeks, and often required the involvement of our entire Bureau .
And more recently, during the week of February 2, 2004, all eight Denver Bureau
employees were working on site covering the criminal proceedings against
basketball player Kobe Bryant .
16.

In the ensuing months, I anticipate that the Kobe Bryant criminal trial

and proceedings will occupy a significant amount of the time of all the Denver
Bureau employees. This case has a scheduled hearing or proceeding in each of the
upcoming months leading to an eventual trial that will require the resources of our
entire Bureau. In addition, I can already anticipate potential major developments
in two other large stories that we are following . The individual accused of
kidnapping Elizabeth Smart will face a deternunation of competency in the next
several months, and may eventually be put on trial, which will require a significant

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time investment from the Denver Bureau . In addition, there is an upcoming

preliminary hearing for the individual accused of kidnapping Dru Sjodin, the North
Dakota student who has been missing since November. This case will require
frequent attention and resources from the Denver Bureau as the search for Ms.
Sjodin continues, and as a possible trial approaches .
In addition, because of the small size of the Denver Bureau and the

17 .

large amount of material that needs to be covered, our eight employees often have
to perform multiple jobs. For example, when I am out of the office, the two
producers, Mr . Burke and Mr. Blick, often fill in as Bureau Chief. As a result,
requiring me to be in Georgia for a potential trial along with Mr. Burke and Mr.
Blick would effectively leave the Bureau without a Bureau Chief overseeing its
operations.
18 .

In this case, if five of the eight employees in the Fox News Channel's

Denver Bureau are all required to attend a potential trial 1200 miles away in
Georgia, Fox News Channel's ability to collect and disseminate the news for a
substantial portion of the United States will undoubtedly be hampered . In addition
to the several large stories we anticipate covering in the next year, there is the everpresent possibility that a major news story in our region could develop requiring
the Bureau's full resources. In short, because the Fox News Channel cannot easily

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reassign employees to different Bureaus, requiring such a large number of our

Denver Bureau employees to appear for a period of several days for a potential
trial in Georgia would cripple Fox News Channel's Denver Bureau and leave it

vulnerable should a major story develop in any area of the United States over
which the Bureau has responsibility .

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of
America and the State of Colorado that the foregoing is true and correct and that
this Declaration was executed on February 13, 2004 at Denver, Colorado .

DENIS KING

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