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** OPINION
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** ABC News suspended Terry Moran for a Trump post the right is using to claim media bias
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President Donald Trump, left, and adviser Stephen Miller, shown here last month. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

The post has been deleted, but the controversy has reached a full boil.

ABC News veteran correspondent Terry Moran, who interviewed President Donald Trump in April, has been suspended by the network following a post in which he gave his assessment of top Trump adviser Stephen Miller, as well as Trump, saying they are “world-class haters.”

In a post at 12:08 a.m. Sunday, Moran wrote:

The thing about Stephen Miller is not that he is the brains behind Trumpism.

Yes, he is one of the people who conceptualizes the impulses of the Trumpist movement and translates them into policy.

But that’s not what’s interesting about Miller.

It’s not brains. It’s bile.

Miller is a man who is richly endowed with the capacity for hatred. He’s a world-class hater.

You can see this just by looking at him because you can see that his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment. He eats his hate.

Trump is a world-class hater. But his hatred (is) only a means to an end, and that end is his own glorification. That’s his spiritual nourishment.

The post was deleted but still went viral, with conservatives blasting Moran and calling on ABC to punish him. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tweeted a screengrab of Moran’s post and wrote ([link removed]) , “Last night, in a since deleted post, so-called ‘journalist’ @TerryMoran went on a rampage against Stephen Miller and called President Trump ‘a world class hater.’ This is unhinged and unacceptable. We have reached out to @ABC to inquire about how they plan to hold Terry accountable.”

She said essentially the same during an interview Sunday morning on Fox, calling for Moran to be suspended or fired.

Later on Sunday, Moran was suspended.

In a statement, ABC News said, “ABC News stands for objectivity and impartiality in its news coverage and does not condone subjective personal attacks on others. The post does not reflect the views of ABC News and violated our standards — as a result, Terry Moran has been suspended pending further evaluation.”

This all happened while Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles, where there are protests over Trump’s immigration sweeps. The New York Times’ Michael M. Grynbaum noted ([link removed]) , “Mr. Miller, who is among Mr. Trump’s most powerful aides, is considered the mastermind of the administration’s crackdown on immigration. He has spoken extensively in recent days in defense of federal immigration raids in Los Angeles and denounced the demonstrators who have protested the government’s actions.”

Moran’s official title at ABC News is senior national correspondent. He has been with the network since 1997. As mentioned earlier, Moran interviewed Trump in April and, at one point during that interview, Trump said, “Terry, they’re giving you the big break of a lifetime. You know, you are doing the interview. I picked you because, frankly, I never heard of you, but that’s OK.”

Moran was praised in many circles for speaking out against Miller, claiming that what Moran said about Miller is true. And many criticized ABC News for punishing Moran for simply expressing his view on Miller and Trump. In other words, many of Moran’s supporters claim he was simply exercising his free speech, and that the network gave in to pressure from the Trump administration.

On the other hand, many felt Moran had crossed the line of being an objective journalist.

Podcaster and former Fox News host Megyn Kelly tweeted ([link removed]) , “Any actual news organization would fire him this minute.”

Vice President JD Vance posted ([link removed]) that Moran’s tweet was a “vile smear” and added, “It’s dripping with hatred. Remember that every time you watch ABC’s coverage of the Trump administration.”

And that is the issue at hand.

Whether or not you feel as if what Moran wrote was true, and whether or not you believe Moran has the right to express his thoughts, his post will undoubtedly be used by the right to accuse, once again, the media of bias. In fact, Vance and Kelly are already jumping on it, as are countless others.

Miller himself posted ([link removed]) , “The most important fact about Terry’s full public meltdown is what it shows about the corporate press in America. For decades, the privileged anchors and reporters narrating and gatekeeping our society have been radicals adopting a journalist’s pose. Terry pulled off his mask.”

Conservatives will now use Moran’s post to say, “See, the media cannot be trusted. They hate us. This proves it.”

Veteran journalist Chuck Todd responded ([link removed]) to Miller’s tweet with a smart take: “Nothing lazier or more transparently dishonest than to take one person’s deleted tweet and try to apply the sentiment to an entire group of folks. Ask yourself why he wants to slime any journalist for the sins of one? It’s intentionally dishonest and intentionally divisive.”

Todd is 100% correct, but unfortunately, Miller’s target audience doesn’t see it that way. It will easily swallow Miller’s lazy and dishonest opinion. Todd is right when he calls Miller’s take “intentionally dishonest and intentionally divisive,” but it doesn’t take much to trigger such divisiveness. Maybe that’s something Moran should have considered before hitting send on his tweet.

Meanwhile, veteran journalist Mehdi Hasan turned his attention to those on the right calling for Moran to be punished, tweeting ([link removed]) , “Snowflakes. Pretend free speech warriors. Getting journalists suspended and calling for their firing. Hypocrites.”

Did Moran have a right to say what he said? I could argue, yes. Maybe he felt as if he couldn’t bite his tongue any longer and had a duty to speak out. But the real key is maybe what he tweeted was real insight to those he covers and knows well. Maybe it shouldn’t be seen as a criticism, but an explanation, an assessment, putting the behavior and actions of two public figures into context.

Was it an accurate take? Many would say yes, and would add that not only was it accurate, but necessary.

Should Moran have posted it? Or maybe a better question is: Was it worth it? Let’s put it this way: In the end, this tweet did some damage. Moran’s late-night post will be a headache for ABC News. That pain will be felt by other media, too. That is a fact, even if you agree with everything Moran did and said.

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** Good night, and good luck
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George Clooney at the opening of his Broadway show “Good Night, and Good Luck” in April. (Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)

How ironic that the Moran-Miller controversy happened on the same weekend that CNN aired a live version of George Clooney’s “Good Night, and Good Luck” Broadway show. The play is about legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow exposing the scare tactics and witch hunts of Sen. Joseph McCarthy.

Author and former longtime New York Times media critic Bill Carter tweeted ([link removed]) , “Good for CNN to take it on+Clooney to make it happen w star power. We are far from (the) day when speaking truth to power could move the nation. If Fox existed McCarthy would never have fallen. They’d have pushed him for POTUS. Still, resistance to demagogues is the American birthright.”

NPR TV critic Eric Deggans took a jab at ABC, tweeting ([link removed]) news that Moran had been suspended and adding, “Guess execs there weren't watching CNN's broadcast of Good Night and Good Luck last night.”

It is also interesting to note that Murrow, the former CBS newsman, took on McCarthy, while these days CBS’s parent company, Paramount, is negotiating to settle a lawsuit filed against them by President Donald Trump, even though legal experts believe Trump has no case.

In a strong column, The Wall Street Journal’s Holman W. Jenkins Jr. wrote ([link removed]) , “OK, CBS isn’t the most sympathetic defendant but Mr. Trump’s claims are preposterous. Did the network edit the Harris interview to make her look better on ‘60 Minutes’ than she did when a version of the interview aired earlier on ‘Face the Nation?’ Maybe. This caused Mr. Trump ‘mental anguish’? Please. A smarter CBS would have released the full transcript and video at the time and let the public judge. But even an increasingly lame news organization owes it to itself to show up in a fight against government encroachment on a free press.”


** Speaking of CBS
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“60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley was interviewed by CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Saturday night following CNN’s airing of “Good Night, and Good Luck.”

This was before Moran’s tweet, but what Pelley had to say actually could be applied to what Moran wrote, as well as Paramount’s potential settlement with Trump.

Pelley told Cooper, “I sense in the country today that there is also a fear to speak because it might wipe out your university, it might wipe out your law firm, it might ruin your career. And the theme of all of that together today is that we have to have the courage to speak as Americans. You can agree with the government or disagree with the government, but you must not be silent.”

Pelley recently gave a commencement speech at Wake Forest University, where he talked about journalists and universities and others being under attack. He never mentioned Trump by name, but many Trump supporters criticized Pelley’s address.

He told Cooper, “I felt very strongly that this was something that needed to be said. It did not strike me that it would impact people’s thought of me as a journalist because part of that speech is a speech about freedom of speech that should be noncontroversial.”

Pelley reminded everyone that he did not mention Trump by name, telling Cooper, “I don’t refer to him or the president or the White House or the administration. But I was talking about actions that have been taken by the government over these last many months. But there was a little bit of hysteria among some about this speech, and I simply ask you what does it say about our country when there’s hysteria about a speech that’s about freedom of speech?”

Pelley also talked about Paramount’s potential settlement with Trump, saying, “​​It will be very damaging to CBS, to Paramount, to the reputation of those companies.”

He added, “You really wish the company was behind you 100%, right? You really wish the top echelons of the company would come out publicly and say ‘60 Minutes,’ for example, is a crown jewel of American journalism and we stand behind it 100 percent. I haven’t heard that.”


** Powerful column
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Bill Plaschke, the wonderfully talented sports columnist for the Los Angeles Times, announced in a column ([link removed]) on Sunday that he has Parkinson’s disease.

Plaschke wrote, “I’ve got Parkinson’s, and it hurts to even say it. I’m still mobile, still active, I don’t have the trademark tremors that distinguish the famously afflicted Michael J. Fox or the late Muhammad Ali but, damn it, I’ve got it.”

Plaschke wrote that he was diagnosed four years ago, adding, “Every day it feels like I’ve just run a marathon. I move well, my balance is fine, but I’m always tight, always creaking. The amount of medication required to keep me active is so immense, my pills come in gallon jugs and I spend entire Dodger games trying to discreetly swallow them in the press box.”

Plaschke, 66, has been named Associated Press Sports Editors’ columnist of the year eight times. He made regular appearances on ESPN’s long-running “Around the Horn,” which ended its 23-year run last month.

Read Plaschke’s powerful column, which is not just about him, but others who are fighting the disease — literally. Plaschke writes about how boxing and martial arts workouts can help battle Parkinson’s.

“I have Parkinson’s,” Plaschke wrote, “But, by God, it doesn’t have me.”


** Media tidbits
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* The Washington Post’s Cat Zakrzewski, Natalie Allison, Elizabeth Dwoskin, Jeff Stein and Emily Davies with “Inside the battles that shattered Trump and Musk’s alliance.” ([link removed])
* Politico’s Ian Ward with “Don’t Be Fooled: The Musk-Trump Blowup Is Really About Immigration.” ([link removed])
* Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker with “A troubling chapter in William F. Buckley’s life.” ([link removed])
* ABC/ESPN NBA sideline reporter Lisa Salters missed Sunday night’s Game 2 of the NBA Finals because of a “personal matter.” Jorge Sedano filled in for Salters. Salters’ partner, Stephanie White, is the head coach of the Indiana Fever of the WNBA, and is also away from the Fever for personal reasons. During the game broadcast, play-by-play announcer Mike Breen said Salters’ mother has been dealing with serious health issues.
* TNT is getting lots of praise for its coverage of the French Open tennis tournament. Here’s Awful Announcing’s Drew Lerner with “TNT aces French Open coverage in first year.” ([link removed])


** Hot type
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* The New York Times’ Steve Eder and Tawnell D. Hobbs with “The Quiet Unraveling of the Man Who Almost Killed Trump.” ([link removed])
* “CBS News Sunday Morning” and correspondent Tracy Smith with “Jean Smart on her one-woman Broadway show ‘Call Me Izzy.’” ([link removed])
* And here’s the extended interview with Smart ([link removed]) .


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* New reporters: Get essential reporting techniques, effective storytelling methods, and newsroom navigation skills. Register today ([link removed]) .

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .

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