When Brian Ross, the ABC News journalist, made a mistake while reporting on Russian involvement in Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, he was quickly suspended by the network.
The veteran journalist was taken off air for four weeks in 2017 without pay when he claimed that Michael Flynn, Mr Trump’s former national security adviser, would testify that his boss directed him to make contact with Russian officials during the White House race.
Mr Ross, who left ABC just a few months later, is one of a number of correspondents who have been suspended for making false or biased statements.
David Wright, another journalist, was caught in a sting operation in Feb 2020 where he compared Mr Trump to a “nightmare spouse that you can’t win an argument with”. He was swiftly suspended and later reassigned from political coverage by the network.
The same year, ABC suspended Matt Gutman, their chief national correspondent, when he inaccurately reported that all four of Kobe Bryant’s children had died in the helicopter crash that killed the basketball player, instead of one.
“People are fine with the big interviews going to David [Muir],” they added. “There’s no reason to keep paying George so much money. Those days are over.”
Biden gaffe
Days before Ms Harris reached the top of the Democratic ticket, George Stephanopoulos said on-camera that he did not believe Mr Biden could serve another four years in the White House following his disastrous debate performance.
The gaffe frustrated many in the ABC newsroom, who believed that he should have remained neutral on the matter, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Mr Stephanopoulos later admitted he should not have made the intervention.
In the past, ABC has dealt uncompromisingly with journalists who make mistakes regarding inaccuracy or bias.
When Mr Ross made his mistake and was suspended, ABC issued a statement saying: “We deeply regret and apologise for the serious error”, adding that the reporting “had not been fully vetted through our editorial standards process”.
But for Mr Stephanopoulos, a measure of stardom and desire by executives to keep an anchor on-side who mulled leaving for greener pastures in 2020 seems to have insulated him from those same lofty standards.
The following day he was back on the air on “This Week”, where the defamation settlement went unmentioned.
Tainted by admission of misreporting
ABC held firm for months until its belated mea culpa, which, according to the Journal, its reporters see as an attempt by Disney to protect its corporate interests and access to the White House.
Some in the network are now worried that Mr Stephanopoulos has been tainted by his admission of misreporting the president-elect’s sexual assault ruling.
The Wall Street Journal reports that some believe it means he carries “unnecessary reputational and legal baggage”.
At the same time, his stewardship of Good Morning America has seen its rating fall behind NBC’s Today in the time slot.
Any other network that has been trimming the salaries of its top talent, like CNN or NBC, would be questioning whether Mr Stephanopoulos – who earns millions of dollars and has cost millions more with the $15 million defamation settlement – is a luxury they can afford.
Judging by the deal he is reported to have agreed this month, this has not yet occurred to ABC.
ABC News has been approached for comment.
