On Saturday, ABC News, which is the news division of the Disney (NYSE:DIS) owned American Broadcasting Company, disclosed that they had suspended investigative reporter Brian Ross for four weeks without pay.
The reason? The announcement of Ross’s suspension came after the reporter corrected an explosive on-air report about Michael Flynn, who just plead guilty to lying to the FBI about his involvement with Russia during the presidential election.
Here’s what ABC had to say:
“We deeply regret and apologize for the serious error we made yesterday. The reporting conveyed by Brian Ross during the special report had not been fully vetted through our editorial standards process. 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.”
The news division added, “it is vital we get the story right and retain the trust we have built with our audience — these are our core principles. We fell far short of that yesterday.”
For those who missed it, here’s what happened:
On Friday, Brian Ross told his viewers during an ABC special report that Michael Flynn was ready to testify that Donald Trump told him to contact the Russians while he was a candidate for the 45th president of the United States.
However, Ross then walked back his report, informing his viewers that the anonymous source later told him that it was a president-elect and not as a candidate.
To no surprise, Ross’ incorrect report sparked a negative reaction in the markets. In fact, the Dow dropped more than 350 points.
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