ABC News has suspended chief national correspondent Matt Gutman following his live, on-air speculation and reporting during the uncertain hours after the helicopter accident that claimed the life of NBA star Kobe Bryant this past Sunday.
As you’ll recall, nine people were killed in the crash, which occurred in Calabasas, California on Sunday morning. Among those who perished was the former Los Angeles Lakers star’s own 13-year-old daughter, Gianna; Kobe and GiGi had been traveling to one of her basketball games with several other players and their families when the helicopter went down in poor weather conditions.
Related: Lakers Players United For ‘Very Emotional’ Afternoon After Kobe’s Death
In the immediate hours following the accident, Gutman at one point reported all four of the basketball player’s daughters had been on board the helicopter at the time. That, of course, turned out to be incorrect, and ABC News is now suspending the journalist for making that claim without confirmation.
In a statement released this week that confirmed Gutman’s punishment by the network, an ABC News spokesperson said (below):
“Reporting the facts accurately is the cornerstone of our journalism. As he acknowledged [later] on Sunday, Matt Gutman’s initial reporting was not accurate and failed to meet our editorial standards.”
As the statement acknowledges, Gutman himself did correct the error in a later report via live TV on Sunday afternoon, but the damage was done and so, the suspension came down anyway.
The journalist took it in stride, too, supporting his company’s decision and adding more in his own statement about the situation:
“We are in the business of holding people accountable, and I hold myself accountable for a terrible mistake, which I deeply regret. I want to personally apologize to the Bryant family for this wrenching loss and any additional anguish my report caused.”
Well then.
Gutman has been at ABC News since 2008, covering things like the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, and other major national news stories of note. For now, he’ll serve out his time for punishment here.
Related: Lamar Odom Breaks Down Talking About Kobe Bryant’s Legacy
According to the Los Angeles Times, ABC has not announced the length of the suspension in this instance. Even so, diligent media-watchdogs may remember how the network suspended political reporter Brian Ross for four full weeks in 2017 after he produced an inaccurate on-air report about former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
Reactions, Perezcious readers? Still such a difficult tragedy to wrap our heads around… Ugh…
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