Brian Ross Stumbles On His Own Sensationalism

Remember when you could sort of trust ABC investigative journalist Brian Ross to give you an informative story?

I'm starting to forget those times, too, thanks to Ross's weird distortions of Blackwater coverage. He's increasingly placing himself further out on the fringe. Take a look at his latest story on the company. It was a news story that everyone's been expecting for a year - the Iraqi Ministry of Interior refused to issue Blackwater a licence to keep operating in Iraq, and without that the State Department can't allow the company to continue protecting diplomats when the annual contract runs out in May.

Most news organizations - even the New York Times which ran a Reuters piece - portrayed the development as a pretty straight news story. Even Cuba's creaky propaganda agency Prensa Latina did.

But Brian Ross had to give it an inaccurate and inflammatory spin. Blackwater, he writes breathlessly, was "fired." The State Department "fired" the company, he claims. ABC "News" even made a sensationalist little piece of artwork to accompany Ross's piece, which we ripped off for today's graphic to show what we think of him and his journalism.

Ross is obviously so out of touch that he either has some intern on his "investigative team" trolling the net to catch what the bottom-feeders are saying and turn it into a story under Ross's byline, or he's just become another TV crank. Either way, the guy's days as a credible journalist are gone. He's simply not a professional any more. He ought to get the boot.

Commentators Heap Abuse on Brian Ross and His Silly ABC News Report

Online commentators are heaping ABC News with abuse for Brian Ross's breathless report that the Army discovered a carbine in the hands or Iraqi insurgents and returned it to Blackwater.

Supporters of Blackwater and of winning the Iraq war should always take advantage of the public comment sections on Big Media websites. Some of the Ross commentators appear to be private contractor vets who have served in Iraq.

Though editors and reporters will seldom admit it, public comments - responsibly written, with solid facts and thoughtful analysis - often provide accountability and provoke biased or careless journalists to think twice.

So keep up the good work! Here's the direct link to the Ross report and the comments, so you can add more thoughts: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/comments?type=story&id=5931528.

No wonder Ross likes to pose so often for pictures with his arms crossed defensively over his chest. His body language shows that, deep inside, he knows he's not the great journalist he pretends to be. See post below.

ABC's Ross: His Body Language Tells the Story

Brian Ross is a big man in the big media, but does he really believe he's as hot as he wants people to think? Allan and Barbara Pease, in The Definitive Book of Body Language (Bantam, 2004), offer some insights about why the machine gun man from ABC always crosses his arms over his chest:

"Hiding behind a barrier is a normal response we learn at an early age to protect ourselves. As children, we hid behind solid objects such as tables, chairs, furniture, and mother's skirt . . . . As we grew older, this hiding behavior became more sophisticated and by the age of six, when it was unacceptable behavior to hide behind solid objects, we learned to fold our arms tightly across our chests whenever a threatening situation arose . . . .

"By folding one or both arms across the chest, a barrier is formed that is an unconscious attempt to block out what we perceive as a threat or undesirable circumstances. . . . when a person has a nervous, negative, or defensive attitude, it's very likely he will fold his arms firmly on his chest, showing that he feels threatened. . . .

"When you fold your arms your credibility dramatically reduces."

"Crossed-Arms-on-Chest is universal and is decoded with the same defensive or negative meaning almost everywhere. It is comonly seen . . . anywhere that people feel uncertain or insecure." (pp. 90-93)

Army Returned Blackwater's Missing M-4; ABC's Brian Ross Sensationalizes It

The US Army returned a missing M-4 Bushmaster military carbine to Blackwater after discovering the weapon during a raid on Iraqi insurgents, ABC News reports. The Army apparently doesn't consider the issue a big deal. Soldiers said the weapon was found in "surprisingly good condition," which indicates that the insurgents didn't use it much if at all.

ABC's Brian Ross (pictured in his typically defensive, arms-across-the-chest pose) reports, "Criminal investigators for the US Army turned the weapon over to Blackwater. A spokesman for the Army CID [Criminal Investigative Division] said no further investigation was conducted as to whether the weapon had been stolen or sold on the black market by someone with access to the Blackwater facility."

Ross withholds that piece of news until the 14th paragraph of the 15-paragraph story, stuffing parts of the middle with re-hashed allegations that reflect negatively on the company.

The incident reportedly occurred in 2006.

As is the case in almost any war, the enemy in Iraq often uses captured or stolen American weaponry. The insurgents have stolen, pilfered or captured US arms and weapons the US provided to the Iraqi military and law enforcement. Blackwater turned over two employees to federal authorities after suspecting them of stealing and illegally shipping weapons in the company's custody to factions in Iraq.

The company says that it has reported every known case of weapons theft to the authorities, but did not know about this particular incident. ABC cites documents that reinforce Blackwater's claim that it didn't know the weapon was missing from its inventory.

The ABC report reeks of sensationalism. Ross breathlessly says the incident was "kept secret" until now, and ominously that it "raises more questions" about the company's operations in Iraq, which by all accounts have had a 100 percent success rate in protecting American diplomats, aid workers, officials, visiting congressmen, and even journalists.

Ross repeatedly refers to the M-4 as a "machine gun." While definitions and interpretations differ, with some (mainly civilians) referring to any firearm capable of fully automatic fire as a "machine gun," most military definitions consider machine guns as full-auto firearms that require external support, like a swivel or bipod, and thus the M-4 is not in that category. Generally the media refers to selective-fire military-style carbines like the M-4 as "assault rifles." ABC apparently chose the term "machine gun" to sensationalize the story and "raise further questions" about the company.

After recycling old and negative reports about the company, Ross finally tells readers in the second-to-last paragraph that news the Army doesn't really think that the missing weapon was a very big deal, because criminal investigators returned the M-4 to Blackwater.

In the last paragraph, Ross properly describes the weapon, showing that all the reporter and editors had to do was Google "Bushmaster" to get an official description: "The Bushmaster, according to the company's website, is one of the 'world's most popular military and law enforcement carbine models.' It is outfitted with a flash suppressor and, in military models, can fire three round bursts or fully automatic." The term "machine gun" appears nowhere on the Bushmaster M-4 page or in any official manufacturer description of the firearm. But it sure sounds more exciting.