Less than a month after ABC News suspended one of its reporters for making an inaccurate statement on a very sensitive subject, another member of the ABC News team has been suspended. Longtime correspondent David Wright was caught on camera complaining about ABC News and dropping some very unfiltered comments on the current state of news media and politics.
The video hit the web courtesy of Project Veritas, which was founded in 2010 by James O'Keefe and uses "undercover journalists" to "investigate and expose corruption." Although David Wright reportedly didn't know he was being recorded when he spoke candidly about his outlet, ABC News released a statement (via Deadline) explaining the decision to suspend him:
Any action that damages our reputation for fairness and impartiality or gives the appearance of compromising it harms ABC News and the individuals involved. David Wright has been suspended, and to avoid any possible appearance of bias, he will be reassigned away from political coverage when he returns
The video, which was heavily edited and shows little of ABC News correspondent David Wright's face as posted on YouTube, runs for just over seven minutes of commentary that is far from complimentary toward ABC News, although Wright does fault CBS and NBC as the other two major broadcast network news outlets as well because in his opinion they're "all guilty of the same thing." He does not include cable news.
Identifying himself as a socialist, David Wright in the video suggests that the news doesn't give President Trump "credit for what things he does do" and voters are "poorly informed" because their "bosses don’t see an upside in doing the job we’re supposed to do." ABC News took these statements as well as everything else Wright had to say in the video (which was posted without giving context to a lot of his statements to the undercover journalist) as enough to warrant suspension.
The good news for David Wright and those who have enjoyed his work for ABC News is that the statement from the network doesn't indicate that the suspension will turn into a firing. Rather, the statement says that "when he returns" he'll be assigned elsewhere. That's not an "if he returns," so it seems ABC News expects to have Wright back. He'll simply report in a different capacity than he did prior to his suspension. Not all ABC News personalities are so lucky.
James O'Keefe, who founded Project Veritas, weighed in on David Wright's suspension on the group's website:
We commend David Wright for his honesty. No one should be suspended from their job for truth-telling.
ABC News hasn't commented on where David Wright will end up after his suspension is over or if he could eventually return to political coverage. ABC News is comprised of Good Morning America, Nightlight, This Week with George Stephanopoulos, What Would You Do?, and more, so there are plenty of options.
For now, ABC News will continue without his coverage as a news correspondent. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more in the world of TV news moving forward.
