As Twitchy reported, ABC News on Friday had to pour some cold water on a giddy Joy Behar and issue a correction after Brian Ross incorrectly reported that Donald Trump, as a candidate, directed Michael Flynn to make contact with the Russians.
That sure sounded to The Resistance like Flynn was admitting that Trump colluded with the Russians during the election, but the story wasn’t quite that juicy; Trump, after being elected, had directed Flynn to contact Russia on issues including fighting ISIS. Not quite the same.
Yesterday it was just a “clarification,” ABC said. Now it’s a “serious error” https://t.co/V0S8MKjBtm
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) December 2, 2017
It was a costly mistake, literally. Oliver Darcy noted that ABC News’ incorrect reporting likely caused the stock market to tank.
This is a big distinction. Market tanked when ABC News report dropped. https://t.co/iRTb70uuyl pic.twitter.com/xbORTi0QOn
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) December 1, 2017
The error will be somewhat less costly for Brian Ross personally, who has been suspended without pay for four weeks.
BREAK: ABC has suspended @BrianRoss for 4 weeks without pay for going to air with inaccurate story that said candidate Trump (instead of President-elect Trump) had told Flynn to contact the Russians pic.twitter.com/eanGzSGeYn
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) December 2, 2017
ABC News announces that Brian Ross, who reported Friday’s bogus story on Michael Flynn, will be suspended for four weeks without pay.
— ErikWemple (@ErikWemple) December 2, 2017
Oh no!
In a harsh and stinging rebuke, ABC News forcing Brian Ross to take a Christmas vacation and return to work after New Year's.
— Razor (@hale_razor) December 2, 2017
So he gets an unpaid vacation for spreading #FakeNews?
Pathetic. https://t.co/KM8d2vj0sQ
— Rep. Steven Smith ?? (@RepStevenSmith) December 2, 2017
Gets Christmas AND New Years off? Daaaamn https://t.co/KXEdjnHo8B
— b (@britzava) December 2, 2017
Oh no, he gets the entire holiday season off, what a disaster for him https://t.co/OCjdgsZRp8
— Thicc Politics (@LlamaPolitics) December 2, 2017
As some have pointed out, he essentially gets the holiday season off to spend time with his family. At 69, I think he'll survive without the 4 weeks of pay..he's probably saved up a few bucks. https://t.co/ymSv4uGxc3
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) December 2, 2017
https://twitter.com/hale_razor/status/937091358413561856
The report which drove the stock market down 350 points and gave false hope to millions of Dems will cost the reporter a bit of change. https://t.co/X3EU5DV5FV
— Rick Moore (@RickMoore) December 2, 2017
Good. Honestly, given his previous track record (remember the Aurora CO shooting debacle, where he rushed to wrongly ID killer as a tea-partier?) this is better than he deserves. https://t.co/eIP6h1uaie
— The Nats Won The World Series (@EsotericCD) December 2, 2017
.@BrianRoss deserved this a LONG time ago…YES!
? https://t.co/3vUiGMgWMw— CRobinS (@In2HotH2O) December 2, 2017
How the hell does he keep his job? This is a repeated pattern of serious reporting failures. https://t.co/CMGeuqkCup
— Ryan Molnar (@Ryan_Molnar) December 2, 2017
https://twitter.com/JaredBeck/status/937093998526763008
https://twitter.com/alimhaider/status/937093901642534913
https://twitter.com/GlomarNeverDies/status/937100128086908930
Good. Damage has already been done though. Millions of people still running with that fake info. https://t.co/6AVTMeZPYV
— Common sense Carl (@be_smart_please) December 2, 2017
Fake News variant: publish a complete fantasy immediately, when you know people are interested and looking for news on the topic. Then later quietly slap someone on the wrist and issue a retraction. https://t.co/phx3o0e4be
— Tom Swanson (@TomSwanson15) December 2, 2017
Hopefully this keeps happening to offenders like this. Anyone can make a mistake, but in this climate, if you’re doing a story about potential legal ramifications to the president, you’d better triple check your work https://t.co/2Er2FBU5Ym
— Modus Pwnens (@PwnySlaystation) December 2, 2017
as long as this sort of stuff isnt a firing offense, i really dont wanna hear the media grunts whine about being called "fake news". https://t.co/U5ecNG4j60
— The Milk Crone ? (@TheMilkCrone) December 2, 2017
Shoddy reporting does as much as anything to undermine trust in the press. Really the least ABC News could do … https://t.co/zqAq4spIQk
— Chrys Kefalas (@CKefalas) December 2, 2017
So will @ABC suspend @TheView hosts for their spreading of #FakeNews https://t.co/4GcYHGMLA5
— Proud Deplorable (@LoriBlaney) December 2, 2017
The ladies of “The View” proved long ago there’s nothing they can’t get away with saying on that show.
Update:
Interesting …
Important to note that ABC's correction came about after CNN's @oliverdarcy asked the network why what Ross said on air yesterday morning didn't end up in their online report. If Oliver hadn't asked, would ABC News have issued the correction? https://t.co/x48esgQlvi
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) December 3, 2017
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Related:
HEADS SHOULD ROLL: ABC News corrects Brian Ross on ‘candidate’ Trump vs. President-elect Trump
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