Thoughts on Brian Ross Suspension

NBC can take a back seat to the newest fallout coming out of ABC. But let me set up what happened there before I start berating ABC.

So, as you are well aware by now, ABC investigative journalist Brian Ross was suspended by the company for a incorrect report that Michael Flynn, the former national security advisor for President Trump, was going to testify that Trump instructed him to contact Russian officials during the campaign. This was on the heels of Flynn pleading guilty for lying to the FBI, and is now a part of Robert Mueller's investigation into possible collusion between Trump officials and Russian officials who may or may not have meddled in our recent Presidential election. However, later reporting suggests it was Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and not Trump himself, who told Flynn to contact Russians.

But that incorrect reporting led Ross to be suspended. Want to know for how long? FOUR WEEKS! Yeah, that's right, I said it loudly and with some anger four weeks, which I believe is complete overreaction. However, it did get the attention, who tweeted about it and congratulated ABC News for the suspensions, which was deserved but not the length.

Now, here's the thing: Brian Ross is one of the better investigative reporters in the business and in this particular case, he could've gotten bad information or reported something that was changed right then and there. The real blame here is not Ross himself, but the network and the people who forgot to vet this before it went on air and in publication.

So in reality, ABC can now take NBC's place for looking badly among viewers and among the people of the US. But the reality is, networks seem to serve out longer suspensions for people who do bad reporting and bad vetting than people who use abusive language.

Let me set up what I mean: Former ESPN Britt McHenry was seen on video, verbally abusing and berating a towing company, and it was caught on camera. She was suspended only one week by the network for that. Let me repeat that: One week! For bad reporting, like Brian Ross, he has get four weeks?! What the hell is up with that?!

This suspension is deserved, but he doesn't deserve a long suspension like this. And, by the way, he won't get paid for this, which is completely ridiculous.

There's only one blame for this: ABC. ABC deserves most of the blame for this kind of suspension, because four weeks for bad reporting is absurd. Two weeks is fine, but four weeks? No. No. No. No.

This is just another incident of why big television networks look bad in their newscast. They made Brian Ross a fall guy without properly vetting this and making sure all information was correct. They looked like fools and they looked worse with a lengthy suspension which was unjustified.

Look, I agree on a suspension, but the length is not what I agree with, nor him getting paid. Yes, it's a black eye, but it's a black eye that can be quickly recovered in about two weeks, not four.

I can't trust the news media now for some reason, because just week after week after week, they seem to make calls that are either overreach or don't go far enough. Brian Ross does deserve a suspension, but not that amount of time. It's unbelievable that big news network are just so sensitive and even small, minor errors can result in lengthy situations. It's not how it should work.