The Hollywood Reporter has a story about how a report on ABC World News had an adverse effect on the financial markets early Tuesday. The report from senior national security correspondent Jonathan Karl aired Monday night but was picked up through the night and landed on the Drudge Report Tuesday morning.
“The early headlines are all about an ABC News item citing an unidentified Pentagon official as saying that Israel is likely to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities this year,” a Merrill Lynch economist wrote yesterday.
World News EP Jonathan Banner told THR, “Our purpose in reporting what we did is to let the American people hear what senior Defense Department officials think in terms of Iran and possible Israeli military action. That’s of significant importance to the American public, regardless of whether it has an impact on oil market prices or not,” Banner said.
After falling 150 points earlier in the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up yesterday, 32 points.