By now most people who follow the auto business know not only the Toyota accelerator story but also the aftermath: that unintended acceleration wasn't caused by rogue computer code, faulty parts,
quality issues, aliens, or genetically altered children from the former Soviet Union. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and NASA could find nothing wrong with the cars alleged to have
developed a mind of their own. So should the Edward R. Murrow award have gone to ABC's Brian Ross for his coverage of the unintended-acceleration story? Gawker thinks not
(http://gawker.com/5812668/scaremongering-reporter-gets-award-for-scaremongering.)
Gawker notes that in two of the winning reports submitted by ABC, Ross quotes expert Sean Kane saying
unintended acceleration "couldn't be explained by floormats." Ross left out that Kane was working for plaintiff's attorneys, "and so had a financial incentive to argue that there was more to the
Runaway Toyota scare than just floormats," writes Gawker's John Cook. "Indeed, in other ABC News segments that the network didn't nominate, Ross showed Kane saying—again without disclosing his
relationship to plaintiff's attorneys—'We clearly think that Toyota has a larger problem on their hands that involves the electronics with these vehicles.'" Cook points out that Kane's
contention that electronics were involved "Was later eviscerated by the NASA/NHTSA report, which found 'no electronic flaws in Toyota vehicles capable of producing the large throttle openings required
to create dangerous high-speed unintended acceleration incidents.'" Next: Orson Welles wins posthumous Murrow award for Mars attack.