This received much publicity in Latin America and even in the United States, where it was the subject of a report by John Stossel on 20 / 20.

John F. Stossel was born on March 6, 1947 in Chicago Heights, Illinois, the younger of two sons.

" Stossel characterizes himself has having been " an indifferent student " while in college, commenting, " I daydreamed through half my classes at Princeton, and applied to grad school only because I was ambitious, and grad school seemed like the right path for a 21-year-old who wanted to get ahead.

" Although he had been accepted to the University of Chicago's School of Hospital Management, Stossel was " sick of school ", and thought taking a job would inspire him to embrace graduate studies with renewed vigor.

After a few years of on-air reporting, Stossel was hired by WCBS-TV in New York City, by Ed Joyce, the same news director who hired Arnold Diaz, Linda Ellerbee, Dave Marash, Joel Siegel and Lynn Sherr.

Stossel also " hated " Joyce, whom he felt was " cold and critical ", though Stossel credits Joyce with allowing him the freedom to pursue his own story ideas, and with recommending a clinic in Roanoke, Virginia that largely cured Stossel's stuttering problem.

Stossel grew continuously more frustrated with having to follow the assignment editor's vision of what was news.

Stossel was named co-anchor of 20 / 20 in May 2003, while he was writing his first book, Gimme a Break: How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media, which was published in 2004.

In September 2009, it was announced that Stossel was leaving ABC News and joining Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network.

When President Barack Obama altered federal guidelines in April 2010 governing the employment of unpaid interns under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Stossel criticized the guidelines, appearing in a police uniform during an appearance on the Fox News program America Live, commenting, " I ’ ve built my career on unpaid interns, and the interns told me it was great – I learned more from you than I did in college.

Regarding religion, Stossel identified himself as an agnostic in the December 16, 2010 episode of Stossel, explaining that he had no belief in God, but was open to the possibility.

According to Stossel, when he was in favor of government intervention and skeptical of business he was deluged with awards, but in 2006 he stated, " They like me less ... Once I started applying the same skepticism to government, I stopped winning awards.

" On April 23, 2012, Stossel was awarded the Chapman University Presidential Medal, by the current president, James Doti, and chancellor, Danielle Struppa.

For example, Stossel was criticized for a segment on his October 11, 1999, show during which he argued that AIDS research has received too much funding, " 25 times more than on Parkinson's, which kills more people.

Stossel denied any misrepresentation of Galbraith's views, and stated that it was not his intention to convey that Galbraith agreed with all of the special's ideas, but re-edited that portion of the program for its September 2000 repeat, in which Stossel paraphrased, " Even economists who like Europe's policies, like James Galbraith, now acknowledge America's success.

A February 2000 story about organic vegetables on 20 / 20 included statements by Stossel that tests had shown that neither organic nor conventional produce samples contained any pesticide residue, and that organic food was more likely to be contaminated by E. coli bacteria.

Stossel began his journalism career as a researcher for KGW-TV and later became a consumer reporter at WCBS-TV in New York City, before joining ABC News as a consumer editor and reporter on Good Morning America.

Stossel intended to go work at Seattle Magazine, but it had gone out of business by the time he graduated.

His contacts there, however, got him a job at KGW-TV in Portland, Oregon, where Stossel began as a newsroom gofer, working his way up to researcher to then writer.

Stossel, who confesses to having been frightened of being on the air, has expressed embarrassment at watching videos of his early performances.

In 1981 Roone Arledge offered Stossel a job at ABC News, as a correspondent for 20 / 20 and consumer reporter for Good Morning America.

Stossel explained at the end of the December 30, 2010 episode of Stossel that he gives away his earnings from these engagements to charity ; they contribute 25 % of his income.

Stossel and his former ABC News colleague Chris Cuomo are silent investors in Columbus Tavern, a restaurant on Columbus Avenue at 72nd Street on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

Stossel speaking at the Free State Project's New Hampshire Liberty Forum.

Stossel's brother, Thomas P. Stossel, is a Harvard Medical School professor and co-director of the Hematology Division at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Her career dates back to the 50s, and her current prominence at ABC is largely due to celebrity interviews, with a long running co-anchorship on 20 / 20 with Hugh Downs and, later, John Stossel until 2004, and her overlapping morning infotainment show The View.

Scott Stossel, an editor at The Atlantic, wrote:

* ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS evening news ; John Stossel specials ; BBC, Fox, CNN, MSNBC ; Nick News ; Brazil Idea ; I've Got a Secret ; Denver TV ; Scientific American Frontiers ( three programs ); Discovery Channel ( two programs ); ABC radio ; NPR " All Things Considered ," etc.

Stossel has written two books recounting how his experiences in journalism shaped his socioeconomic views, Give Me a Break in 2004 and Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity in 2007.

In August 2010, a lower court's dismissal of the minister's defamation suit against ABC, Price v. Stossel, was overturned by the U. S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

" John Stossel has cited Michelle Bernard's 2007 book Women's Progress as evidence that " American women have never enjoyed more options or such a high quality of life.

Stossel reported in 2005 that more than four million people were swingers, according to estimates by the Kinsey Institute and other researchers.

However, this led to the unexpected realization for Stossel that more important events were those that occurred slowly, such as the women's movement, the growth of computer technology, and advancements in contraception, rather than daily events like government pronouncements, elections, fires or crime.

The three main groups he supports with his donations are the The Doe Fund, the Central Park Conservancy ( on whose board he sits ), and Student Sponsor Partners ( SSP ), which partners low-income high school students with donors who mentor the students and pay tuition for the students to attend private school ( usually Catholic schools ), which Stossel says have higher graduation rates than public schools.

He has also criticized the American legal system, opining that it provides lawyers and vexatious litigators the incentive to file frivolous lawsuits indiscriminately, which Stossel contends often generate more wealth for lawyers than deserving clients, stifle innovation and personal freedoms, and cause harm to private citizens, taxpayers, consumers and businesses.

John Stossel produced an investigative news report into the swinging lifestyle.

" When Stossel asked swinging couples whether they worry their spouse will " find they like someone else better ", one male replied, " People in the swinging community swing for a reason.

" Stossel interviewed 12 marriage counselors.

Nevertheless, swingers whom Stossel interviewed claimed " their marriages are stronger because they don't have affairs and they don't lie to each other.

* Libertarian commentator John Stossel frequently quotes the story and references the title of the U. S. Handicapper General.

Past contributors include Jonathan Chait, Jonathan Cohn, Joshua Green, Joshua Micah Marshall, Jedediah Purdy, Chris Mooney, Matthew Yglesias, Michael Massing, Joe Conason, Michael Tomasky, Ezra Klein, and Scott Stossel.

John F. Stossel ( born March 6, 1947 ) is an American consumer reporter, investigative journalist, author and libertarian columnist.

In October 2009, Stossel left his long-time home on ABC News to join the Fox Business Channel and Fox News Channel, both owned and operated by News Corp.

He hosts a weekly news show on Fox Business, Stossel, which debuted on December 10, 2009.

Since February 2011, Stossel has also become a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist.

In his decades as a reporter, Stossel has received numerous honors and awards, including 19 Emmy Awards and has been honored five times for excellence in consumer reporting by the National Press Club.

John Stossel is doctor honoris causa from Universidad Francisco Marroquín.

Stossel went on to be an ABC News correspondent, joining the weekly news magazine program 20 / 20, going on to become co-anchor.

Stossel characterizes his older brother, Tom, as " the superstar of the family ", commenting, " While I partied and played poker, he studied hard, got top grades, and went to Harvard Medical School.