Eight Los Angeles parents are mad at ABC News' John Stossel about the way their children are depicted in his Tampering with Nature special, set to air on ABC this Friday.
They claim producers disguised the true nature of the special, which focuses on global warming, genetic engineering and human cloning. And, they say, they were surprised when the controversial libertarian journalist showed up to quiz their kids, allegedly peppering the tykes with "leading questions" to get them to say what he wanted.
The Q&A session, which took place in April at the Canyon Charter School in Santa Monica, was arranged by Tess Cacciatore of the California-based World Trust Foundation. She says ABC producers told her "they were doing an education piece about global warming," and that no mention was made of a negative slant, or the involvement of Stossel. "They knew from the get-go we would not have wanted John Stossel to do this piece and hid that information from us."
Stossel, known for his often abrasive "Give Me a Break" segments on 20/20, has previously drawn the ire of environmentalists after debating the health value of organic foods and questioning the real-life Erin Brockovich's research into toxic pollutants.
Brad Neal, a real estate broker and father of two of the young interviewees, tells the Washington Post he was angry when he saw Stossel preparing to interview the kids. Neal says Stossel's "questions were all entirely misleading to evoke the responses he wanted. He'd repeat questions until he got the answer he wanted...We knew we were hoodwinked."
In an interview with the Associated Press, Neal admits he did not get around to making a complaint until the advocacy group, Environmental Working Group, "helped me direct my anger." On Monday, he united with other parents to write a letter to Stossel claiming ethical journalistic standards were violated, asking for footage of their kids be edited out and stating, "we do not permit you, your staff or ABC News to use our children for whatever ideological or journalistic purposes lie behind your work." (The letter posted on Environmental Working Group's Website, www.ewg.org.)
The parents were particularly steamed about footage that shows the kids raising their hands in response to a question about how many of them believed scientists were unanimous on the dangers of global warning. Michael Scott, an attorney and father of two of the kid participants, says he's concerned that the way the footage is used depicts the children "being portrayed as if they were brainwashed or not being told the truth."
Says Environmental Working Group spokesman Mike Casey, "Once again, John Stossel has shown he has a fundamental problem with honesty and fair play," and stressed ABC should "not condone Stossel deceiving parents and manipulating kids to grind his ideological axe."
Speaking of grinding axes, this isn't the first time the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Working Group and Stossel have squared off. The group previously demanded Stossel be fired for asserted organic foods contain more pesticide residue than conventional supermarket foods, and are less safe to eat. Stossel had based his claims on tests that were never conducted. ABC News reprimanded Stossel, forced him to apologized and suspended his producer.
While it doesn't look like Stossel will be reprimanded this time, the network is taking the parents' concerns seriously.
In a statement, ABC News says it "has reviewed the entirety of John Stossel's interview with the children in California and concludes it was conducted in a professional and responsible manner according to the highest journalistic standards.
Furthermore, the parents originally gave their written consent, several were present while the interview was conducted, and none voiced any concerns to ABC for more two months until the week of our broadcast after they had spoken with activists."
However, the network says it "will respect the belated decision of a number of parents to withdraw their consent" by editing out the kids' responses and just paraphrasing what they said.