Journalists have extensive First Amendment rights. But that only means the government cant restrict what they say. Other people can. Like their employers. Especially their employers: ABC News in this case.
Just because you have the right to say something doesnt mean you should. Your employer could fire you. But what if you didnt know what you were saying was being recorded? ABC suspended political correspondent David Wright after an investigative journalist at Project Veritas caught him on undercover video admitting to being a socialist.
But that might not have been the reason. He also admitted that the network spikes news important to voters.
They Oppose President Trump
Wright was covering the New Hampshire primary for Nightline. An undercover reporter from Project Veritas asked him at a hotel bar if he was a democratic socialist. Oh yeah" he responded. More than that I would consider myself a socialist. Like I think there should be national health insurance. Im totally fine with reining in corporations. I think there are too many billionaires. And I think theres a wealth gap thats a problem." Help us champion truth freedom limited government and human dignity. Support The Stream Naturally he strongly opposed President Trump. He admitted that he and his fellow journalists dont give him credit for what things he does do." That was as balanced as he got. Were in this awkward moment. … We have this profanity deleted president and we cant figure out how to challenge him." For reporters Trump is the nightmare spouse you cant win an argument with."
For reporters Trump is the nightmare spouse you cant win an argument with."
Wright complained that We dont hold him to account. … Were not disciplined enough to cut him off and we second-guess ourselves because were sensitive to the accusation that you know were in the tank for the Democrats. And so that enables him and we enable him. And it feels like every time we take the bait on the outrage we enable him."
ABC only covers the outrage of the day the investigation and the palace intrigue of whos backstabbing whom. Beyond that we dont really cover the guy."
ABC Became a Profit Center
I feel like the truth suffers the voters are poorly informed" he said. Our bosses dont see an upside in doing what were supposed to do which is to speak truth to power and hold people to account." One reason for ABCs type of coverage? Profits. The networks news division became a profit center" and a promotion center." You cant watch Good Morning America without there being a Disney Princess or Marvel Avenger appearing" he said. Its all self-promotional. And promotion of the company and also promotion of individuals within the company as opposed to the kind of dedication to the story and a commitment to telling stories that we need to tell that are maybe hard to tell." He expressed his displeasure with this. The commercial imperative is incompatible with news" Wright said.ABC Responds
ABC issued a response to Wrights comments on the Project Veritas video. His honesty upset the network. Any action that damages our reputation for fairness and impartiality or gives the appearance of compromising it harms ABC News and the individuals involved. David Wright has been suspended and to avoid any possible appearance of bias he will be reassigned away from political coverage when he returns."
James OKeefe the founder of Project Veritas had an interesting comment. We commend David Wright for his honesty" he said.
James OKeefe the founder of Project Veritas defended Wright. We commend David Wright for his honesty" he said. No one should be suspended from their job for truth-telling."
The lefty news site Salon defended Wright for getting the truth out about ABC. Maybe indiscreetly calling Trump profanity deleted could legitimately elicit a talking-to from management. But pretty much everything else Wright said was truthful if indelicate."
This isnt the first time Project Veritas has exposed ABCs bias. Last year the investigatory team released video showing Good Morning America co-host Amy Robach complaining about how she had a story three years ago on sex offender Jeffrey Epstein but the network killed it. It was unbelievable what we had Clinton we had everything" she said on set on a hot mic.
The fact that both James OKeefe on the right and Salon on the left both think Wright shouldnt have been suspended is telling. Should ABC treat him as a whistleblower? Or is he just as guilty as his network?
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