NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Former ABC News correspondent Terry Moran admitted on Friday that his longtime network was liberal and struggled to understand President Donald Trump’s supporters because its newsroom lacked political viewpoint diversity.
Co-host of “The Fifth Column” podcast Michael C. Moynihan asked Moran directly, “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 said. “That was one of the problems in covering Trump. Nobody had voted for him.”
ABC NEWS FACES BACKLASH FOR PRESENTING OBAMA CAMPAIGN AD AS AN ‘EXCLUSIVE’ ON REDISTRICTING MEASURE
Moran said he attempted to challenge the prevailing newsroom perspective by circulating internal messages about the network’s Trump coverage.
“I sent out these ‘Hey, we should be fair to Trump’ internal emails,” Moran said. “I heard from people — engineers, maybe the occasional producer — who said ‘Thank you.’”
An ABC News staffer told Fox News Digital after Moran’s departure that the veteran correspondent had clashed internally with liberal colleagues, but that his social media post left the network with no other option.
“It’s just sad honestly,” the staffer said. “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.”
BROADCAST BIAS: NETWORKS TURN TRUMP’S PLANE SWITCH INTO A FANCY SCANDAL
ABC declined to renew Moran’s expiring contract after he published a since-deleted post describing Trump and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller as world-class haters. The network said the post violated its policies and reaffirmed its commitment to impartial reporting.
“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,” an ABC spokesperson said. “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.”
The ABC staffer also told Fox News Digital that the network acted swiftly because allowing the controversy to linger could have driven away viewers amid widespread distrust of legacy media.
“We f—ing took it seriously and dealt with it pretty g–d— quickly,” the staffer said.
TUNING OUT: WHY MANY AMERICANS ARE SICK OF THE NEWS – ESPECIALLY TRUMP NEWS
Moran made a similar acknowledgment shortly after leaving ABC, saying the scarcity of Trump supporters inside the network prevented its news division from hearing large parts of the country.
During Friday’s interview, Moran drew a distinction between fairness and objectivity while discussing how journalists should cover Trump’s attempt to change long-standing political norms.
“There is no such thing as objectivity in journalism,” Moran said. “I’d put the work I did at ABC News out there as excruciatingly fair.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Less than six weeks before his departure, Moran conducted a combative Oval Office interview with Trump marking the president’s first 100 days back in office.
Trump rebuked Moran while being questioned about Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I don’t trust you. I don’t trust a lot of people,” Trump said. “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.”
Fox News Digital reached out to ABC for further comment, but did not immediately receive a response.