This has not been a good week for the news media.
Today, an ABC News producer was pulled from an assignment after it was revealed crime scene tape was put up solely for the purposes of a live shot. While it appeared correspondent Linsey Davis was standing in a field in front of the tape put there by police, a source sent CNNMoney this photo showing the tape was actually strung between two pieces of ABC News equipment. CNNMoney reports:
The photograph, sent by an anonymous source, shows the tape running no more than 30 feet and tied to camera stands at both sides. In Davis’ segment, which was broadcast on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” it is impossible to tell where the tape ends.
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“This action is completely unacceptable and fails to meet the standards of ABC News,” an ABC spokesperson tells CNN. “As soon as it was brought to our attention, we decided to take the producer out of the field, and we’re investigating further.”
This incident follows several recent news media fails. Earlier this week, CNN revealed it had parted ways with Donna Brazile following an incident (and another that followed) in which she gave questions to the Clinton campaign ahead of a primary debate and a town hall on CNN; earlier today, a Virginia jury found a former Rolling Stone reporter, and the magazine, liable in a defamation suit over a now-retracted story about sexual assault at the University of Virginia; and Bret Baier just apologized for suggesting indictments were “likely” in an investigation of the Clinton Foundation.