ABC News announced Saturday that it has suspended investigative reporter Brian Ross for four weeks without pay after Ross was forced to correct a bombshell on-air report about Michael Flynn.
"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," ABC said in a statement. "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."
"It is vital we get the story right and retain the
trust we have built with our audience -- these are our core principles,"
the statement added. "We fell far short of that yesterday."
Citing a single anonymous source, Ross told viewers
during an ABC special report on Friday morning that Flynn was prepared to
testify that Donald Trump, as a candidate for president, told him to contact
Russians.
During Friday's edition of "World News
Tonight," Ross walked back his report, telling viewers that the source who
had provided the initial information for his story later told him that it was
as president-elect, not as a candidate, that Trump
asked Flynn to contact Russians.
An ABC News tweet about the report was retweeted about
25,000 times before being deleted.
Ross' incorrect report prompted a dramatic reaction in
the financial markets, and the Dow
fell more than 350 points. Stocks largely recovered later in the day.
CNN had initially reached out to ABC News early Friday
afternoon to ask why Ross' initial reporting was not included in the network's
online story about Flynn pleading guilty for lying to the FBI. Hours later, a
spokesperson told CNN a correction was forthcoming.
But ABC News initially attempted to downplay the mistake,
referring to its correction as a "clarification" on "World News
Tonight" and then online. After a barrage of criticism, the network
changed the language online from "clarification" to
"correction."
Saturday evening's statement further ramped up the
language; the network now calls it a "serious error."
Ross commented later Saturday night. "My job is to
hold people accountable and that's why I agree with being held accountable
myself," he tweeted.
Shortly after that, President Trump weighed in, tweeting his "congratulations" to ABC News for
suspending Ross.
Multiple ABC News employees, speaking on the condition of
anonymity because they weren't publicly authorized to discuss the matter, told
CNNMoney on Saturday there was internal embarrassment over the blunder.
"It's a major embarrassment," one ABC News
employee said.
"It makes me cringe," echoed another.
"This is not what any networks needs when people are so quick to say 'fake
news' to you. It makes me sick to my stomach."
This is not the first high-profile mistake by Ross. In a
2012 piece for which he apologized, he suggested that the Aurora shooter may
have had a connection to the Tea Party.