According to ABC News president Ben Sherwood, ABC’s coverage of last Friday’s Colorado theater shooting was "excellent," aside from, you know, investigative reporter Brian Ross hastily suggesting that the shooter, James Holmes, could possibly be a member of the Tea Party. It was discovered later that the Tea Party member James Holmes was a 50-something Hispanic man, not the 24-year-old neuroscience student charged with the crime.
As first reported by Politico:
ABC News president Ben Sherwood told staff today that last Friday’s incorrect report by Brian Ross detracts from the network’s otherwise excellent coverage of the Colarado theater shooting, network sources tell POLITICO.
Sherwood’s remarks, made on the network’s daily editorial conference call, came the morning after Ross’s report was picked up by late night comedians John Stewart and Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central, both of whom used Ross’s erroneous suggestion of a Tea Party link to the Colorado theater shooting as fodder for their Monday night routines.
On Monday’s conference call, ABC News SVP James Goldston also commended the staff for its work, noted the incorrect report, and said that the network was taking steps to ensure it did not happen again, sources told POLITICO yesterday.
Ross’s poorly-researched attempt to politicize the shooting tragedy has been an embarrassment for ABC News and has drawn criticism from conservative and liberal media critics alike. Left-leaning comedian and Daily Show host Jon Stewart was flabbergasted that Ross hasn't even been suspended for such an inexcusable goof.
ABC insists that the network is taking steps to ensure that something of this nature doesn’t happen again, but has not indicated what these steps may entail. ABC has issued an apology but as of this publication, has not indicated that Ross will face any consequences.
