Has ABC established a new journalistic standard: henceforth, is it OK to cite anonymous internet posts to demonstrate public opinion on an issue?
During its segment on the murder of abortion doctor George Tiller, ABC News reporter cited two inflammatory–and anonymous–Tweets. Later, at the conclusion of her interview of two associates of the late Dr. Tiller, Diane Sawyer seemed to choke up.
ABC News reporter Jeffrey Kofman was on the scene in Wichita, Kansas.
JEFFREY KOFMAN: A lot of inflammatory comments on the internet. On Twitter one person wrote “Oh happy day: Tiller the baby killer is dead.” Another wrote “God bless the gunman.”
Any readers recall ABC citing anonymous internet posts when, say, Dick Cheney has had a health problem?
Later, Diane Sawyer interviewed two Tiller associates. Check the video and tell me if it doesn’t seem as if at the end of the interview, discussing the loss to the Tiller family, Sawyer doesn’t sound choked up.
4 Comments
Hard to say but then again Diane Sawyer has always seemed a few fries short of a Happy Meal!
When your core or religious beliefs are damaged or attacked, it’s a personal loss and you are often overcome by emotion. Diane is simply being empathetic.
“Diane is simply being empathetic.”
Sawyer for Supreme Court!
I agree she’s choking up…she even looks like she’s trying to turn away from the camera right at the end…..
But then again, she’s talking about the family right there.