Brian Ross (journalist)

Brian Elliot Ross (born October 23, 1948) [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/3/Brian-Ross.html Brian Ross Biography (1948-) ] ] is an American investigative correspondent for ABC News. He has been with ABC News since July 1994. From 1974 until 1994, Ross was a correspondent for NBC News.

Major scoops

In 1998, Ross broke the story on ABC's Primetime of sweatshops in Saipan, the capital of the Mariana Islands, where the women were forced to have abortions. Lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who was later convicted for fraud, represented some of the owners of the sweatshops. In 2005, Ross reported that Abramoff funded an all expense-paid trip by Tom DeLay to Saipan, to benefit the sweatshop owners. [http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=647725&page=1]

On May 15, 2006 Ross reported that the federal government was monitoring journalists' telephone records in an effort to track down leaks. Allegedly, the CIA was tracking reporters from ABC News, the Washington Post, and the New York Times. It is unclear exactly how the government was tracking the targeted journalists. [http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/05/federal_source_.html]

On May 24, 2006 Ross reported on the lead story for ABC World News Tonight that the Justice Department was investigating Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, for possible connections to the Jack Abramoff corruption scandal. Both the Justice Department and Dennis Hastert issued denials, but Ross insisted the story was correct. [http://www.abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=2005233&page=1] Ross did say that the investigation may eventually "wash out and be nothing". [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052501796.html]

On September 6, 2006, Brian Ross reported that Pakistan has decided not to seek the capture of Osama bin Laden, so long as bin Laden acts "like a peaceful citizen." [http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/09/pakistan_gives_.html] Pakistan denied the report. [http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/09/pakistan_denies.html]

On September 29, 2006, Brian Ross reported that Florida Rep. Mark Foley (R) sent underage male Congressional aides sexually explicit internet messages. [http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/09/exclusive_the_s.html] This led to Foley's resignation from Congress.

Awards

In 2003, Brian Ross received the George Polk Award given annually by Long Island University to honor contributions to journalistic integrity and investigative reporting. [cite web |url=http://www.brooklyn.liu.edu/polk/press/2005.html|title=George Polk Awards for Journalism press release|accessdate=November 15|accessyear=2006 |author= |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=Long Island University |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate=]
In 2007, Brian Ross and the ABC News Investigative Team won a Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Political Journalism, for breaking the story of Mark Foley's inappropriate contact with Congressional pages, ultimately changing the course of the election.

False Iraq-US Anthrax scare reports

Brian Ross has been criticized by Glenn Greenwald and others for a series of stories which linked Iraq and the 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States. These reports were based upon anonymous "high level" sources and were both denied by the Administration [ Anthrax concern grows in D.C.., Seattle Post Intelligencer, Saturday, October 27, 2001] and subsequently shown by other reports to be false.Fact|date=May 2008 It is claimed that Ross unwittingly helped build support for the invasion of Iraq via his high profile erroneous reporting. [http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/08/01/anthrax/index.html] [http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/04/09/abc_anthrax/index.html] Dan Froomkin asked on August 5 2008 in the Washington Post [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/08/05/BL2008080501703_5.html?hpid=opinionsbox1] "So who told ABC the powder looked Iraqi?"

The NY Sun reported that Brian Ross was ordered by a federal judge to reveal his sources. [http://www.nysun.com/national/journalist-ross-of-abc-ordered-to-disclose-sources/63572/] In response, an ABC News spokesperson said that the organization was going to protect its sources.

References

External links

* [http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=127548 Brian Ross' biography] on the ABC News website.
* [http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/01/04/1524256 Brian Ross interview] by Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! about the forced abortions in the Mariana Islands. (January 4, 2006)