EWG Investigation Finds Correspondent Stossel Lied About
Tests
- Calls for Firing
This is not acceptable. It was not a mistake, it was a
willful disregard of journalist ethics that resulted in a lie repeated to the
millions of 20/20 viewers - twice. ABC must fire John Stossel immediately for
this outrageous breach of journalistic ethics.
*
Despite Dozens of Warnings, Correspondent Repeated
Non-existent Test Results on Air in Story Rerun About Pesticides on Organic Food
As reported today by the New York Times (requires free
registration), the Environmental Working Group charges in a report, "Give
Us a Fake", that 20/20 correspondent John Stossel reported fraudulent
pesticide test results twice on ABC's 20/20.
Stossel first reported on February 4 that tests
commissioned by 20/20 found "no pesticide residue on the conventional or
the organic" produce tested for the show. An EWG investigation subsequently
revealed that no pesticide tests were conducted (See EWG's Give Us A Fake). In
the months following the original broadcast of the show, EWG raised the issue of
fraudulent test results in dozens of repeated communications first with Stossel,
then with the segment's producer, David Fitzpatrick, and 20/20 Executive
Producer Victor Neufeld. These communications included a Feb. 8 letter to
Stossel, the receipt of which was confirmed by Stossel's staff. EWG's efforts
were rebuffed with a form letter that ducked the pivotal question: did ABC
conduct pesticide tests on produce for the show, or did John Stossel lie to the
American public when he reported the results of "our tests?"
Amazingly, ABC rebroadcast the segment on July 7, months
after it first became aware of EWG's concerns about the fake test results. At
the end of the July 7 piece, Stossel chides ABC correspondent Cynthia McFadden
for buying organic produce to avoid pesticide residues. Without providing any
evidence that the tests actually exist, Stossel says to McFadden "It's
logical to worry about pesticide residues, but in our tests we found none on
either organic or regular produce."
The problem is that even after today's New York Times
story, ABC has not yet produced the test results, because, we assert, they do
not exist. Stossel has yet to comment on the matter.
This is not acceptable. It was not a mistake, it was a
willful disregard of journalist ethics that resulted in a lie repeated to the
millions of 20/20 viewers - twice. ABC must fire John Stossel immediately for
this outrageous breach of journalistic ethics.
Environmental Working Group • 1718 Connecticut Ave.,
N.W., Suite
600
• Washington, DC 20009 • info@ewg.org
Read Letter sent to ABC by EWG: http://www.ewg.org/pub/home/reports/givemeafake/westin.html
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