In a recent report about the acceleration problems Toyotas have, ABC News used 2-seconds of footage taken in a parked car, but claimed it was taken in a moving one, the Associated Press reports.
According to the AP report, written by longtime TV reporter David Bauder, "Briefly during the drive, ABC cut to a picture of a tachometer with the needle zooming forward. The impression was that the tachometer was documenting the ride Ross was taking. Instead, that picture was taken from a separate instance where a short-circuit was induced in a parked car."
Furthermore, according to the story, "ABC said that editing was done because it was impossible to get a good picture of the tachometer while the car was moving because the camera was shaking. The camera shot was steady when it was taken in a parked car."
ABC apologized for putting the 2-second video into the story, and said it was a "misjudgment" made in the editing room, the AP said.
Gawker.com first wrote about this story, including a follow-up about the fact that ABC has since swapped out the fake video and added video taken while the car was moving. However, even the video taken when the car was in motion was NOT taken during the same time the car was driven by correspondent Brian Ross during the rest of the report. The Gawker follow-up includes a clip of the video report.
What year is this? How many years has ABC been in the news business? Authenticity…is the cornerstone of any report, in print, radio, television, or internet. Without it, you don’t have a news department. This is beyond comprehension in today’s world of media.
Maybe this would happen with a tenderfoot at a small station in Nowhere, USA, but at ABC? An edit fix and an apology are not acceptable
I hope heads have rolled.
Peter Bright
Don’t they have a history of doing this? Remember the exploding gas tanks? But, how would you ever be lucky? enough to just happen to be in a car that is doing this, and have a camera crew along too? I think they where just showing what might happen when this occures. Robbie
I think it’s evidence of the fact that “news reporters” have taken Freedom of Speech to mean that they have the right to say or do anything they want under the shelter of the first amendment.
The good thing for ABC News is that since news reporting standards have slid down the drain across the country, this isn’t really a big deal.
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