Names and faces
More than 230 former ABC News employees, including Reagan-era White House correspondent Sam Donaldson, as well as other correspondents, executives and producers have signed a letter urging the network’s top executive to take a firm stand against any effort by the administration of President Donald Trump to curtail media access. The letter, which circulated on a Facebook forum for exABC News employees, was written after White House spokesman Sean Spicer held an informal briefing Friday excluding several news organizations that have done stories that angered Trump and his team. Signees ask ABC News President James Goldston to “take a public stand. Refuse to take part in any future White House briefings based on an invitation list of who’s in/who’s out.” Signees include former ABC reporters Ken Kashiwahara, Jeanne Meserve and Lynn Sherr; four former executive producers of World News Tonight; and top leaders at Nightline, 20/20 and Good Morning America. The letter called last week’s incident “an alarming new development enacted by an administration that has declared war on respected news outlets.” On Wednesday, Goldston said the network has pressed the White House to operate in a way “that’s open, transparent and fair,” adding, “and we will continue to stand with our colleagues who cover the White House and to protest when any government official fails to live up to those standards.”
In an interview after receiving his Oscar on Sunday, actor Casey Affleck addressed earlier sexual-harassment claims against him and said “everyone deserves to be treated with respect in the workplace and everywhere else.” The Manchester by the Sea star largely had evaded questions about the two lawsuits filed against him while he was directing the 2010 mockumentary I’m Still Here. While settlements prevent each party from discussing the accusations, Affleck has denied them. In an interview posted Tuesday by The Boston Globe, Affleck said, “I believe that any kind of mistreatment of anyone for any reason is unacceptable and abhorrent.” Asked about those who have criticized his Academy Award win, Affleck said there was “nothing I can do about it other than live my life the way I know I live it and to speak to what my own values are and how I try to live by them all the time.”