ABC’s ‘Exclusive’ With Pearl’s Widow Disputed

CBS and NBC’s news divisions accused ABC’s “Good Morning America” of unseemly behavior Tuesday over the program’s handling of the first TV interviews with Mariane Pearl following confirmation of the killing of her husband, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

The Journal arranged for Mariane Pearl to speak to CNN and the BBC with the understanding that the interviews would air on those outlets first because both are seen in Pakistan. After that, the footage was to be made available to any network in the world that wanted it.

But “Good Morning America” aired the BBC interview immediately, labeling it “exclusive.” CNN labeled its own interview, running at the same time, “exclusive” before distributing it to other networks.

“The first interview with Danny Pearl’s wife wasn’t theirs, and it wasn’t an exclusive,” said Steve Friedman, executive producer of CBS’ “The Early Show,” regarding ABC. “They are perpetrating a fraud on the audience.”

NBC officials declined to comment, but staffers there said they also thought ABC had acted inappropriately.

“Good Morning America” defended its actions, citing a long-standing relationship with the BBC that enabled ABC to record the feed in London as it came in to the BBC and immediately feed it to New York.

As for the CNN interview, ABC still opted to use the “exclusive” banner “because we were the only American morning broadcast to have the BBC interview at 7 a.m.,” the show’s spokeswoman said.

A BBC spokesman characterized the incident as a “misunderstanding,” and Journal spokesman Steve Goldstein said the paper did not intend for ABC to have a jump on running the interview. He said the BBC assured him it was an inadvertent error.

In the BBC interview, Pearl, who is seven months pregnant with the couple’s first child, urged the world to unite to fight terrorism and said she would tell her unborn son that his father died a hero.

“His spirit, his faith and his convictions have not been defeated,” she said. “And I am extremely proud of him.”