Terry Moran, a veteran journalist and former ABC News correspondent, acknowledged on Friday that his longtime network held a liberal viewpoint and faced difficulties in comprehending supporters of former President Donald Trump. He attributed this challenge to a lack of political viewpoint diversity within its newsroom.
During an appearance on "The Fifth Column" podcast, co-host Michael C. Moynihan directly inquired, "Is ABC News a liberal institution?"
"Yes. But I think, I think like a lot of mainstream media, it’s because of lack of viewpoint diversity," Moran responded. "That was one of the problems in covering Trump. Nobody had voted for him."
Moran revealed he made efforts to challenge the prevalent perspective within the newsroom by circulating internal communications regarding the network’s coverage of Trump.
"I sent out these ‘Hey, we should be fair to Trump’ internal emails," Moran recounted. "I heard from people — engineers, maybe the occasional producer — who said ‘Thank you.’"
Departure from ABC News
ABC News chose not to renew Moran's contract after he published a social media post, which was subsequently deleted, describing Trump and former White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller as "world-class haters." The network stated that the post violated its editorial policies and emphasized its dedication to impartial reporting.
An ABC spokesperson issued a statement regarding the decision:
"We are at the end of our agreement with Terry Moran and based on his recent post, which was a clear violation of ABC News policies, we have made the decision to not renew. 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."
A staffer familiar with the situation commented on Moran's departure, expressing regret:
"It's just sad honestly. It's sad for him, a long-time colleague, friend, a good person, family man… It's just unfortunate, but there was no alternative, especially in these times."
The staffer also indicated that the network addressed the situation with considerable seriousness and promptness.
Moran had made similar observations shortly after his departure from ABC, noting that the limited presence of Trump supporters within the network hindered its news division from accurately representing significant segments of the country.
Fairness Versus Objectivity
During the recent interview, Moran differentiated between the concepts of fairness and objectivity while discussing how journalists should approach reporting on Trump’s challenges to established political norms.
"There is no such thing as objectivity in journalism," Moran asserted. "I’d put the work I did at ABC News out there as excruciatingly fair."
Brent Bozell, a prominent media critic, offered a strong rebuke to Moran’s statements.
"Terry Moran spent years proving ABC News is a liberal institution, including smearing Trump as a ‘Fuhrer,'" Bozell stated. "Now he admits the newsroom has zero pro-MAGA journalists and lives in a media bubble. Spare us the newfound candor. Moran was not an innocent observer of the bias he now acknowledges. He was one of its most enthusiastic practitioners."
Past Confrontations
Less than six weeks before his departure from the network, Moran conducted a contentious Oval Office interview with Trump, marking the president’s first 100 days back in office.
During questioning about Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump directly challenged Moran:
"I don’t trust you. I don’t trust a lot of people," Trump told him. "I don’t trust you. Look at you. You’re so happy to do the interview, and then you start hitting me with these fake questions."
