The California-based magazines Motorcycle Consumer News and Cycle World both bought into the AMA’s PR spin on the Edmondson vs. AMA court battle and proclaimed an Appeal Court ruling “good news” and a victory for the AMA.

A news item appearing in the May 2001 issue of Cycle World was headlined “AMA WINS APPEAL” and stated “The multimillion-dollar judgment award to former AMA Roadracing Manager Roger Edmondson in his 1998 suit against the AMA has been overturned on appeal.”

A news item appearing in the April 2001 issue of Motorcycle Consumer News stated “The AMA recently got some good news from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia. Roger Edmondson, the AMA’s former roadracing manager…sued for non-renewal of his contract with the AMA…But the Court of Appeals reveres the lower-court ruling on two of the 10 points raised in the AMA’s appeal, and ordered the lower court to correct mistakes in four other areas, according to an AMA press release.”

Both magazines failed to mention the scheduled retrial on damages, in which the AMA’s already-determined guilt will not be an issue, and both referred to Edmondson as a “manager” and not the joint-venture partner the court found him to be. And both magazines failed to present Edmondson’s viewpoint to balance the AMA PR spin.

Details of the true situation in the case can be found in the roadracingworld.com breaking news archives, with related posts on February 8, February 6, February 3 and February 2.