I wonder why the lawyer doesn't think your chances are good on appeal? Does the report look malicious to them?
I wonder if the media is a lost cause only because you brought the issue to a few media personal prior to the court case and no one was interested.
I don't know what I would do either. Personally, I never take no for an answer so my first choice would be to get a second opinion from another lawyer. Then I would probably go through the appeal process or if the other lawyer said my chances were slim, pay the money and move on (begrudgingly).