Instead of burning Korans in a field near his Gainesville, FL church, Pastor Terry Jones is planning to be in New York tomorrow. He believes he has a meeting with the Imam heading up the lower Manhattan mosque project.
On MSNBC this morning, NBC News correspondent Kerry Sanders reported from outside the Gainesville church that ABC News was preparing to fly Pastor Jones to New York.
“It appears based on what he just told us,” said Sanders, “that ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’ has arranged to fly him to New York and he will be flying with a team of producers and camera crews to New York…”
TVNewser reached out to ABC News. Spokesperson Jeffrey Schneider tells us that an offer was made to the Pastor by an ABC News staffer in Gainesville, but network higher-ups decided against paying for Jones’ flight to New York.
It is not uncommon for news networks to pay for flights or hotels or even cash (via the licensing of photos or videos) for interview subjects with the hope of securing an exclusive in return. But in the case of Pastor Jones, ABC News decided against it.
Jones appeared on all three network newscasts this morning.
• Earlier:
Church’s Planned Koran Burning is Hot Topic on TV News
How Will Nets Cover Koran Burning?
Pastor Cancels Koran Burning