ABC's Brian Ross. (image via podspider)
Looking backwards, in what may appear to be one of the rather noble modern network news decisions of the year, ABC News decided not to go with naming names from the 46-pounds of "DC Madam'" Deborah Jeane Palfrey's phone log. From Howie Kurtz of WashPo:
"During several weeks of calls to possible clients of the woman dubbed the D.C. Madam, Brian Ross of ABC confirmed that some fairly important people had used her escort service.
But when he put together last night's segment for "20/20," the network's chief investigative reporter decided against outing anyone beyond the two people who already had been identified."
Granted, the more cynical among us will shoot back -- ABC News just didn't have any high calibre names. And they would be right:
"'They just weren't newsworthy enough,' ABC's Brian Ross said of the names. (By Donna Svennevik -- Abc)
"'Their names won't mean anything to our audience,' Ross said in an interview. 'They just weren't newsworthy enough.' Instead, he said, 'what we really wanted to do is demonstrate the range of official Washington' involved with the escort service.
"Their positions, as described by Ross, made them important, at least by the capital's standards: A federal prosecutor, who recently died. A handful of military officers, including the head of an Air Force intelligence squadron. A senior official at the World Bank and other officials at NASA and the International Monetary Fund. Corporate CEOs. And lobbyists, both Democratic and Republican."
Still, it took guts for ABC news -- especially after all the hype from the blogosphere -- to play it clean. Perhaps NBC News, which has a long and honorable tradition, but of late has been "ethically mired," could learn a thing or two? (WashingtonPost)
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