• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, Today

Terry Moran unfortunately ran afoul of ABC News’ standards and practices with his rant on X about President Trump.

This is the primary reason why ABC News let him go last week. But how much of a role did fear of Trump play in the decision to cut him loose?

How much were Disney/ABC execs thinking not only of Moran’s breach of the company’s journalistic standards, but how Trump may have retaliated if they didn’t dismiss Moran? 

Trump has demonstrated that he sees no problem with weaponizing the power of his government to threaten TV companies.

The threats center mainly on the companies’ ownership of TV stations licensed by the FCC. 

He has implied or stated outright that he would somehow direct the Commission to turn down companies’ applications for license renewals when they expire simply because he doesn’t like the way their newscasts cover him.

Renewals of this type are almost never under threat. They are customarily approved without argument since the owners of TV stations today, large and small, are always careful to practice strict compliance with the regulations spelled out in their licenses.

Disliking a news report or two is not grounds for an FCC denial. But Disney brass may have been thinking generally of how Trump might threaten them and in the process, tie up some business venture while he throws tantrums and files lawsuits.

ABC News has already been sued by Trump. He filed suit last year for defamation over the way George Stephanopoulos characterized E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuit against Trump. ABC settled for $15 million.

At the moment, Trump is holding up the proposed merger of Paramount Global and Skydance Media as he and Paramount try to settle a lawsuit he filed charging that a minuscule editing decision on the part of “60 Minutes” amounted to election fraud. Disney and Paramount both own sprawling station groups. 

In a statement after Moran was let go, ABC News pinned the firing on the standards issue.

“At ABC News, we hold all of our reporters to the highest standards of objectivity, fairness and professionalism, and we remain committed to delivering straightforward, trusted journalism,” the company said.

The company really had no choice after Moran laid into Trump with a post on X in which he ranted that Trump and his deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller hate everyone and thrive on their hatred.

He called them “world-class haters.” He said hatred is “spiritual nourishment” for Miller. He said Miller “eats his hate.”

In addition to the poor quality of the writing, the problem with this rant and others like it is that they lay bare the kinds of biases that journalists are supposed to keep to themselves, and more to the point, resist applying to their reporting.

After this X outburst, Moran could not really be relied upon to cover Trump fairly -- or by extension, anything else. You might say Moran rashly burnt his journalistic bridge. And so, he was out.

The incident raises an age-old question: Why is social media so alluring that everybody wants to get in on it, even those who should know better?

Social media is a trap and X marks the spot.