Apple said Wednesday it was trying to settle a lawsuit over reporting of unacceptable labor practices at a Chinese iPod. Earlier in the week, FoxConn, Apple’s supplier, sued the Chinese journalists that uncovered the practices.

Apple recently admitted that FoxConn violated Apple’s Code of Conduct. Unacceptable conditions included dormitory style sleeping arrangements for workers where employees were stacked on bunks three high; employee wage schemes were overly complex, making dispute resolution difficult; “normal” 60-hour work weeks were exceeded 35% of the time and frequent 7-days work weeks.

Apple’s supplier is suing reporter Wang You and editor Weng Bao for 30 million yuan (US $3.8 million; euro 3 million) in the Intermediate Court in the southern city of Shenzhen, which froze the journalists’ personal assets pending the trial.

The lawsuit is keeping the iPod labor controversy in the news, and Reporters Without Borders, an advocate for journalists’ rights, has asked Apple’s chief executive, Steve Jobs, to intervene.

“We believe that all Wang and Weng did was to report the facts and we condemn Foxconn’s reaction,” said Robert Menard, secretary-general of Reporters Without Borders. “We therefore ask you to intercede on behalf of these two journalists so that their assets are unfrozen and the lawsuit is dropped.”