Wornick

concurring in part and dissenting in part:

The issue in this case is whether Metabolite Int’l, Inc. established that there is a probability that it will prevail on a defamation claim against WCVB-TV and Susan Wornick (a WCVB reporter) for allegedly defamatory implications in four state *851 ments that she made in a telecast about the controversial presence of ma huang, a naturally occurring form of ephedrine (a precursor chemical used to manufacture methamphetamine), in a dietary supplement called Metabolife 356. If not, California’s anti-SLAPP statute, Cal.Civ.Proc. Code § 425.16, requires striking the suit (as the district court did) in this diversity action.

The four statements are:

The false implications upon which Me-tabolife bases its claims are:

Whether Wornick’s statements are “reasonably susceptible of an interpretation which implies á provably false assertion of fact,” is a question of law. Couch v. San Juan Unified Sch. Dist., 33 Cal.App.4th 1491 , 39 Cal.Rptr.2d 848, 854 (1995). Having reviewed the videotapes of the telecasts and Metabolite’s submissions, I cannot see the defamatory meaning which Metabolife ascribes to such of Wornick’s statements as are not…

Opinion by Judge HAWKINS; Partial Concurrence and Partial Dissent by Judge RYMER

The heart of this case lies at the difficult three-way intersection of the news media’s desire to inform the public about the potential dangers of an over-the-counter herbal supplement, California’s public policy interest in the prompt resolution of so-called “SLAPP suits,” and the liberal policies underlying the discovery provisions of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Metabolite appeals the dismissal with prejudice of state law claims against (1) an investigative reporter for local Boston television station WCVB-TV, (2) the station itself, (3) the station’s parent corporation, and (4) a Harvard Medical School professor, Dr. George Blackburn. The complaint arises from a three-part “investigative report” that aired on WCVB in May 1999 detailing dangers allegedly associated with the use of Metabolite's main product, the herbal weight loss and energy supplement “Metabolite 356.” Metabolite sought relief in the district court under California law.

*837 FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The underlying facts are not in dispute. In May 1999, a local Boston television station (WCVB-TV) aired a three-part…