A Second Reporter Announces On-Air She Will Expose Alleged Wrongdoing at Her Station
A local CBS News TV journalist announced Sunday during her weather report that she'll be blowing the whistle on what she sees as discrimination at her Detroit station, marking the second time in a week a reporter seemingly blew up her career with an off-script announcement designed to embarrass her employer.
On Sunday, April Moss of CBS 62 interrupted herself to say, "I will be sitting down this week with Project Veritas to discuss the discrimination that CBS is enforcing on its employees," before casually finishing her weather report.
Last Monday, Ivory Hecker of Fox 26 in Houston similarly interrupted herself in the middle of reporting to say: "I want to let you, the viewers, know that Fox Corp. has been muzzling me to keep certain information from you, the viewers, and from what I'm gathering I am not the only reporter being subjected to this. I am going to be releasing some recordings about what goes on behind the scenes at Fox because it applies to you, the viewers."
Newsweek reached out to Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe for more detail, but he said only that he will be interviewing Moss just as he did Hecker. With Hecker, his presentation included secretly recorded video of the anchor interacting with her bosses, though it's unclear if similar video exists with Moss.
Hecker's secret recordings came a day later and showed her editors berating her for interviewing a doctor who used hydroxychloroquine to treat patients with COVID-19. "We know it's a drug that has been politicized up to the wazoo. We've used it. We use it with good success," Houston Dr. Joseph Varon told Hecker, though her boss told her "you failed as a reporter" for posting such a story.
Hecker also showed insider footage of a boss objecting to any story involving Bitcoin, since such stories would not "play" for a "poor African American audience at 5 [p.m.]."
O'Keefe is known for posting undercover videos that he says show a bias against conservatives and in favor of liberals, and he usually delivers several on a single topic, this latest being local news anchors announcing on air their whistle-blowing intentions.
He would not say if he has others lined up beyond Hecker and Moss. He will presumably release his Moss video later today or Tuesday.
Hecker was reportedly fired after her stunt last week. Newsweek has reached out to CBS News for comment and will update this report should the outlet owned by ViacomCBS respond.
O'Keefe has for years been a scourge on the left, often targeted by activists at Media Matters for America and other progressive groups who accuse him of manipulating video to fit his narrative, though he sometimes posts hours of raw video with the intention of proving otherwise.
