ABC Misreports Weapons Find

Dear Media Corps members,

In response to requests from many of you, we're trying out a simpler,
cut-to-the-chase version of the Media Corps alerts.  Let me know what
you think at:
http://www.actionforum.com/forum/index.html?forum_id=254.

PROBLEM: ABC's World News Tonight reported on April 26th that it had
an exclusive story on a major discovery of chemical weapons in Iraq.
Based on evidence that suggested but did not confirm the existence of
weapons, ABC hit the story hard for two days.  An Army team then
concluded that the initial tests were erroneous and the cache of
weapons were not weapons of mass destruction, but ABC has yet to
correct its story.  (See below for FAIR's alert with more
information.) A little pressure now could get them to air something
soon -- maybe even tonight.

ACTION: As FAIR puts it: "Encourage ABC News to set the record
straight on the weapons story it was pushing on April 26-27.  Remind
ABC that retractions of false stories should be featured as
prominently as the original reports, and ask that more caution be
shown in reporting government claims."  Polite, cogent emails are
always taken more seriously than angry ones.  If you're a frequent
watcher of the show, you may want to mention that as well.

CONTACT:
ABC's World News Tonight
Phone: 212-456-4040
PeterJennings@abcnews.com

MORE INFO:

FAIR Action Alert:
ABC's Weapons "Scoop" Turns Up Empty
http://www.fair.org/activism/abc-iraq-weapons.html

April 29, 2003

On April 26, ABC's World News Tonight led with a major scoop.  Anchor
Claire Shipman announced at the top of the broadcast, "U.S. troops
discover chemical agents, missiles, and what could be a mobile
laboratory in Iraq. An ABC News exclusive."  But ABC's "exclusive," 
as it turns out, appears to be false.

The April 26 report began: "The U.S. military has found a weapons site
130 miles northwest of Baghdad that has initially tested positive for
chemical agents. Among the materials there, 14 55-gallon drums, at 
least a dozen missiles and 150 gas masks."  Correspondent David Wright 
explained, "Preliminary tests showed it to be a mixture of three 
chemicals, including a nerve agent and a blistering agent."  Wright 
added that an Army lieutenant "says the tests have an accuracy of 98 
percent."

While expressing some reservations, Wright called it "by far the most
promising find in the search for Iraq's weapons of mass destruction,"
especially since it included what his military source told him "looks
like a mobile laboratory."

Perhaps somewhat self-consciously, ABC followed Wright's report with a
short segment about weapons claims that have turned out to be false
alarms.  But ABC continued to pump the story the next day, with Wright
appearing on This Week to explain that "what may turn out to be a very
significant find are these mobile laboratories, which appear to have a
pumping apparatus as well as machinery to mix chemicals."

The story led World News Tonight again on Sunday, as anchor Carole
Simpson explained that "for the second day in a row, some of the 
preliminary tests have come back positive for chemical agents."

But the report also noted one new development: the arrival of a Mobile
Exploitation Team (MET Bravo), which conducts its own testing of
suspected weapons sites.  When those tests were done, the story had 
changed significantly.  According to an April 28 report in the New 
York Times, the MET Bravo team "has tentatively concluded that there 
are no chemical weapons at a site where American troops said they had 
found chemical agents and mobile labs."  As a member of the team told 
the Times, "the earlier reports were wrong."

Reporters should be cautious when preliminary tests seem to confirm
the existence of banned weapons in Iraq, particularly since so many of
these initial findings have not been borne out (see FAIR Action Alert,
3/25/03). ABC was aware of this, but still chose this story as its lead 
news item for two days.  On Monday, April 28, the story had seemingly 
crumbled. But ABC's viewers were none the wiser: When the news was that 
ABC's "exclusive" had washed out, there was no mention of the story on 
the Monday or Tuesday broadcasts of World News Tonight.

ACTION: Encourage ABC News to set the record straight on the weapons
story it was pushing on April 26-27.  Remind ABC that retractions of 
false stories should be featured as prominently as the original 
reports, and ask that more caution be shown in reporting government 
claims.

CONTACT:
ABC's World News Tonight
Phone: 212-456-4040
PeterJennings@abcnews.com