ABC to edit Stossel report

ABC will remove interviews with several California children from an environmental special that is set to air Friday, according to The Associated Press. The network agreed to edit the show after the children’s parents complained that interviewer John Stossel misrepresented the nature of the story and tried to lead the children into giving answers that would fit his perspective. The environmental special Tampering with Nature will replace the five-minute segment with a discussion of the parent’s complaints. In a statement, ABC backed Stossel and concluded the interviews were done in a professional manner. The network also noted that the parents, from the Los Angeles section of Pacific Palisades, took two months to complain and did so after they spoke to environmental activists. Stossel suggests that the children are being brainwashed by environmental activists rather than educated. Lobbying group Environmental Working Group has supported the parents in their bid to get ABC to remove the interviews. Last year, Stossel was forced to apologize after the EWG pointed out that he cited results from a test that never took place in a report on organic produce. The group wants Stossel fired.