However, network flacks insist that ABC News honcho David Westin killed the story on his own, without the influence of Disney executives. "A draft story was submitted that did not work, ABC spokeswoman Eileen Murphy told Associated Press. "This does not reflect badly on any reporter or producer involved. It's an inevitable part of the editorial process."
Murphy added to the Washington Post: "The fact that this particular story involved Disney was not the reason it did not air."
Baloney, says Peter Schweizer, coauthor of Mouse Betrayed. "If this were a story about any other company in America, would there be this problem?" he asks the Post.
As for the reporter and producer, Brian Ross (considered the network's top investigative newshound) and Rhonda Schwartz? They were purportedly given a stern chewing-out by Westin himself after the news honcho saw the script. In fact, inside sources say Westin labeled the pair "crazy" for thinking the thing could air.
`Ross and Schwartz were reportedly working with Mouse Betrayed authors Peter and Rochelle Schweizer. Penned for conservative Washington, D.C., publisher Regnery, the book alleges, among other things, that Disney World doesn't do enough background checking to stop sex offenders from getting hired at the park.
The Disney-critical work--which contains such chapters as "The Lyin' King" and "Mickey Mouse Justice"--also includes copies of sheriff's reports at the park regarding alleged pedophiles. It also describes a rampant Peeping Tom problem.
For the record, Disney spokesman Tom Deegan describes the book as "a hatchet job of the first order....A compilation of half-truths, innuendoes, claims and charges made by every enemy we ever seem to have aroused."
Meanwhile, Regnery veep Richard Vigilante said that not only was full cooperation given to 20/20 after ABC assured him there wouldn't be a conflict-of-interest problem, the publishing company also pushed back the release date of the book to accommodate the network's schedule.
But Vigilante, who claimed he was told by producer Schwartz the segment would run as soon as the overscheduled 20/20 had room for it, said he began to have doubts when the newsmag ran a segment about dogs on Prozac.