ABC News Says Brian Ross Will No Longer Cover Any Stories About Donald Trump
ABC News reporter Brian Ross will no longer report on any stories involving Donald Trump following his erroneous report about Michael Flynn. According to USA Today, the network suspended Ross for four weeks without pay. ABC News President James Goldston expressed anger over the error on a phone call that was later leaked to CNN.
Over the weekend, ABC decided to suspend the reporter instead of terminating his employment. Brian falsely reported that when Trump was president-elect, he told Flynn to make contact with the Russians. Ross said that Trump’s instruction came when he was president-elect, not as a GOP candidate. Almost immediately, Trump’s team attacked the report and stated it was a prime example of “fake news.”
ABC released a statement that said that it is crucial they get the story right and retain the trust they have worked so hard to build with their audience over the years. They claim that Ross’ report fell short of that, and for that, they apologize to their listeners, viewers, and to Donald Trump.
According to the Wrap, the network went on to say that effective immediately, Brian Ross will be suspended for four weeks, without pay. Many people expected Ross to lose his job over the mistake.
To prevent any other stories from not being reported accurately about President Trump, ABC released a statement that when Ross returns to work in January, he will not cover any stories that involve Trump.
Ross came under fire on Friday after his live report on Trump. Specifically, Ross claimed that Trump as president-elect instructed Flynn to contact the Russia. ABC hopes it is clear that Brian made a mistake by saying Trump ordered Flynn as the president-elect when allegedly it happened when Trump was still the GOP candidate.
The slip up may have been an honest mistake, but the network wanted to make it clear that there is a vast difference between the president-elect and a GOP candidate.
CORRECTION of ABC News Special Report: Flynn prepared to testify that President-elect Donald Trump directed him to make contact with the Russians *during the transition* — initially as a way to work together to fight ISIS in Syria, confidant now says. https://t.co/ewrkVZTu2K pic.twitter.com/URLiHf3uSm
— ABC News (@ABC) December 2, 2017
“The reporting conveyed by Brian Ross during the special report had not been fully vetted through our editorial standards process,” ABC said in a statement about Ross’ mistake.
“As a result of our continued reporting over the next several hours ultimately we determined the information was wrong, and we corrected the mistake on air and online.”
Social media users pointed out that this isn’t the first time Ross came under fire for playing fast and loose with facts. In 2012, Brian falsely suggested that the Aurora shooter Jim Holmes may have been a member of the Colorado Tea Party. After an investigation, Holmes wasn’t a member of the extremist group. At the time, ABC News forced Ross to admit the error and give the correct information on air.
This time, ABC had to make a huge statement as his report caused confusion. Ross will return to work the first week of January.
