Why is ABC's firing of Terry Moran roiling journalists?

Longtime ABC News journalist Terry Moran was let go on Tuesday after calling President Donald Trump and White House aide Stephen Miller "world-class haters" in a since-deleted post on X. Almost immediately, Moran's message (a "clear violation" of the network's policies, it said) and his dismissal became a flashpoint in the debate over press freedoms and ethics during the Trump administration. And coming just months after ABC parent company Disney agreed to pay $15 million to settle a defamation suit brought by Trump, critics contend that Moran's departure is a sign of corporate capitulation to an administration hungry for boundary-pushing powers.

What did the commentators say?

Moran's dismissal by the network he had called home for nearly 30 years brought reactions "mostly split along partisan lines," said CNN. While "pro-Trump columnists" had pushed for his ousting, critics of the Trump administration were "lamenting" his suspension and eventual firing.

Currently, "traditional newsrooms don't look kindly on reporters being so outspoken" as compared to columnists, said Margaret Sullivan, former public editor for The New York Times, in her American Crisis newsletter. But given Trump's "march to autocracy," the "larger question" is whether "traditional reporters should have the license — even the encouragement — to say whatever they wish, in whatever way they wish."

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ABC was "right to suspend Moran" but "wrong to get rid of him," said Northeastern University journalism Professor Dan Kennedy in his Media Nation newsletter. While newspapers need to "stick to their own ethical standards," excessively punishing Moran as "some sort of peace offering to Trump is wrong — as wrong as settling the libel suit earlier this year."

"Whether or not" you believe Moran's post was true, or that he had the "right to express his thoughts," the real "issue at hand" is that his comments are being "used by the right to accuse, once again, the media of bias," said Tom Jones at Poynter. White House opprobrium and threats toward ABC demanding consequences for Moran's comments are a "textbook example of 'jawboning,'" said Robby Soave at Reason. This is when the government "tries to accomplish some censorship by threatening improper government action."

But by exposing his "true feelings about key figures within the Trump administration," Moran's post "wasn't a partisan critique on policy matters, but a full-blown personal attack" on the people he'd been tasked to cover with "impartiality" and "objectivity," said Shawn Fleetwood at The Federalist. As such, merely suspending him for the offense would be an "insufficient punishment."

Some members of this administration were more concise with their reactions: "Talk shit, get hit," said White House adviser Steven Cheung on X in response to Moran's firing. Moran's words were "unhinged and unacceptable," said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on X, calling his post a "rampage."

What next?

Ousting Moran is "another win" for an administration that has "aggressively attacked mainstream media outlets for their coverage of the president," said Politico. Not only does the firing come soon after Disney's $15 million settlement with the White House, but Trump also has an ongoing $20 million lawsuit against CBS over that network's 2024 election interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris, which the network is reportedly considering settling.

Moran's firing will be "celebrated by conservatives" and "condemned by others," said Jones. While he has since taken down the X post at the heart of this episode, Moran has "not repudiated it," said NPR. Broadly, the incident suggests that "prohibitions" on reporters sharing personal opinions across social media "seem increasingly outdated," said Soave. The expectation that journalists should "conceal their perspectives" seems "quaint and not exactly useful."