ABC Cuts Interview With Children

Bowing to pressure, ABC News said Tuesday that it will remove an interview with California children from its John Stossel program Friday, “Tampering With Nature,” after their parents complained that they were misled about the news special.

The network said it had concluded that Stossel did nothing wrong, but in an unusual move will excise that interview out of sensitivity to the parents. An ABC News spokesman said Stossel currently is interviewing other children that may be incorporated into the show, which will now offer an explanation of the controversy.

The interview in dispute was with children, mostly in the second to the fourth grades, at Canyon Charter School in Santa Monica. It was to be used in a segment raising questions about whether educators are unduly scaring children about environmental issues. In a group letter to Stossel on Monday, the parents revoked permission to use the interview, which touched on such environmental concerns as global warming. The show explores issues from genetically modified foods to human cloning, questioning whether current fears about such science are unfounded.

The parents, whose complaints were coordinated by the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Working Group, a past critic of Stossel, said that they were told their children were participating in a program about Earth Day. They and some educators who were interviewed said the participation of the often-controversial Stossel was hidden from them until moments before the interviews began and that Stossel asked leading questions.

In a statement, the network said it had reviewed the correspondent’s interview with the children and “concludes it was conducted in a professional and responsible manner according to the highest journalistic standards.” Moreover, ABC said, the parents gave their consent “and none voiced any concerns to ABC for more than two months, until the week of our broadcast after they had spoken with activists.”

Nonetheless, ABC said it is “sensitive when parents raise objections regarding the appearance of their young children on television and will consider such objections carefully. In the present case, ABC News has decided it will respect the belated decision of a number of parents to withdraw their consent.”

Parent Michael Scott, whose 8-year-old and 10-year-old were interviewed, said “ABC did what was proper based upon the parents’ concerns and objections to the information we were given, or the lack of information. I appreciate their responding to the parents’ legitimate concerns and removing the kids’ portion from the piece.” A real estate and business lawyer from Pacific Palisades, he was among parents contemplating legal action against ABC.

ABC came to its decision after its director of news practices called the parents Monday to ask about their concerns. During those interviews, according to an ABC News executive, some parents took full responsibility for not reacting more quickly.

One option ABC told the parents it was considering was interviewing them instead.

ABC in its statement didn’t address a separate ethical issue that was raised by one educator, who claimed in notes provided to the Environmental Working Group that a producer on the show had asked her to reenact something she had said so it could be caught on camera. Network news standards generally prohibit reenactments. An ABC News source said that “if true, it’s of concern” and that ABC would like to speak directly to the person who made the claim but that she was out of the country.