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Headline Roundup February 26th, 2020

Perspectives: ABC Reporter Suspended After Project Veritas Sting

Summary from the AllSides News Team

ABC News suspended veteran political reporter David Wright Wednesday after he was recorded stating political opinions and criticisms of ABC in undercover video shot by media watchdog Project Veritas. Coverage from right-rated outlets focused more on Wright's comments about President Trump and apparent criticisms of his employer's journalistic integrity; some left-rated outlets framed Wright's suspension as being due to his criticisms of ABC rather than a product of him supposedly revealing his bias. Some left-leaning voices and opinions admonished ABC for succumbing to Project Veritas' purportedly unethical measures of reporting.

Featured Coverage of this Story

ABC News should be ashamed for caving to James O’Keefe’s scam
ABC News should be ashamed for caving to James O’Keefe’s scam

Washington Post

Opinion

How are news organizations not wise to this scam?

That’s the reaction I had when I heard that ABC News had suspended reporter David Wright after Wright got secretly recorded by Project Veritas, the group run by conservative con artist James O’Keefe. Their goal is to “expose” media they see as biased and liberals they don’t like, which they usually do by recording people without their knowledge, then deceptively editing their comments and releasing them as an “exposé.”

I’ll explain a bit about that history and how it relates to...

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ABC’s David Wright Admits Network Doesn’t Care About News
ABC’s David Wright Admits Network Doesn’t Care About News

The Federalist

Analysis

In a newly released Project Veritas video, footage reveals ABC Correspondent David Wright admitting the network doesn’t care about newsworthy stories.

“I feel terrible about it. I feel that the truth suffers, the voters are poorly informed, and people also have the opportunity to tune into whatever they want to hear,” Wright said. “And so, it’s like there’s no upside, or our bosses don’t see an upside in doing the job we’re supposed to do, which is to speak truth to power and hold people accountable.”

While Wright says he...

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Project Veritas stings ABC’s David Wright and reminds journalists that opinions cause trouble
Project Veritas stings ABC’s David Wright and reminds journalists that opinions cause trouble

Poynter

Analysis

On Wednesday, ABC News suspended correspondent David Wright after Project Veritas caught him on an undercover camera criticizing his network and expressing his own political views while covering the New Hampshire primary election.

Let’s point out that the video Project Veritas posted is edited, so we may not have all the context we might want about this conversation. But since ABC responded with a suspension, it is safe to assume the network is not questioning the basic facts the video presents.

And therein lies the lesson that journalists seem to...

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