ABC YANKS SIMPSON FOR ANTHRAX REMARKS

ABC yanks Simpson for anthrax remarks

Inside TV

October 25, 2001
By Peter Johnson

Carole Simpson, anchor of the Sunday edition of ABC's World News Tonight, has been suspended for two weeks after speaking inaccurately at a luncheon about ABC's recent anthrax scare.

In her remarks Oct. 16 to the International Women's Media Foundation in New York, Simpson disclosed various details about an ABC News producer's infant child who was sickened by anthrax.

That didn't sit well with ABC News executives, who on that very day -- the day after they learned about the child's illness -- were trying to describe to their employees and the media what had occurred.

Executives had not, for example, disclosed certain information about the child (that he's a 7-month-old boy) at the request of the mother.

But what further angered them was that Simpson, who is based in ABC's Washington bureau, told the group that the anthrax attack had hit home in her very office. Simpson said that ABC News anchor Cokie Roberts had gotten a letter postmarked Trenton, N.J. -- where several letters containing anthrax, sent to other media and to Capitol Hill, originated.

In fact, no such letter existed. Executives in the bureau had a number of suspicious letters that had not been opened, and they called authorities, who sent in a hazardous-materials team to investigate. No anthrax was found there or at ABC News in New York.

After Simpson made her remarks, several reporters at the lunch called their offices, and ABC fielded more than a dozen media calls.

ABC News declined to comment Wednesday. Simpson could not be reached.

Simpson was replaced on Sunday's World News by ABC anchor Chris Bury, a frequent substitute for Ted Koppel on Nightline. Simpson is expected back Nov. 4.

News ratings running strong

CBS anchor Dan Rather, whose assistant tested positive for anthrax, isn't taking medication because he has no symptoms. ''We not going to run scared, and we're not going to work scared,'' he told The Associated Press. Meanwhile, network and cable news ratings continue strong as viewers stay focused on the war and the anthrax attacks. ''As long as there is a progression of the story, the 24/7 news services will continue to see numbers above last year,'' says CBS research chief David Poltrack. ''But if we go several weeks without any change in the story line, then we would expect evening news and cable news ratings to come back down.'' A sign of that came last week when breaking news slowed and viewers drifted back to entertainment. For example, among cable channels, Lifetime and Nickelodeon displaced CNN from its top slot.