ABC Stops Paying for Interviews


This is a post that will help lead to the analysis of the way the media portrayed and covered Casey Anthony’s trial. This social media trial has showed many flaws in journalism and ABC has decided to make atonement for taking money from subjects.

The Daily Beast reports:

“ABC News has quietly decided to get out of the business of paying news subjects in connection with exclusive interviews.

When asked for comment, spokesman Jeffrey Schneider confirmed the new policy, saying: “We can book just about anyone based on the strength of our journalism, the excellence of our anchors, correspondents, and producers, and the size of our audience. These licensing deals had become a crutch, and an unnecessary one.” ”

Since when are journalists paying sources for interviews? That just seems so desperate and pathetic, and that is not what journalism is all about.

Taken from Baltimore SunABC did not only do this in the Casey Anthony case, but within the same Daily Beast article it is reported that they did this with the “Weinergate” scandal:

“The practice surfaced yet again when ABC paid Meagan Broussard, one of the women who had been texting with then-congressman Anthony Weiner, $10,000 to $15,000 for photos she had sent the New York Democrat.”

No one should be paying anyone for an interview – that is not how news is made, and it is really sad that this is what it has come to. Thankfully ABC has decided to try and make this better, hopefully now some more credibility and legitimacy can be attributed to news organization.

The integrity of a news organization deteriorates every time they involve money with an interview or story.

Originally posted at The Future of Journalism

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