This weekend was one filled with contrition, for John Oliver’s mea culpa for egging on an egomaniac, to ABC News copping to staging a crime scene photo. According to CNN Money, this happened during a recent field report about a South Carolina woman who’d allegedly been locked away in a storage container by a sex offender. For the Good Morning America segment, ABC News correspondent Linsey Davis stood in front of some yellow police tape, appearing to be reporting from the crime scene. But a source reached out to CNN Money, providing the news organization with a photo that shows the tape stretching between pieces of equipment, and not across the actual crime scene.
ABC News vice president of communications Julie Townsend gave CNNMoney the following statement: “This action is completely unacceptable and fails to meet the standards of ABC News. As soon as it was brought to our attention, we decided to take the producer out of the field, and we’re investigating further.” CNN notes that it’s not the first time ABC News has tweaked its surroundings for the purpose of a shot—back in April, ABC News producer David Fazekas faked a reservation list for an exclusive restaurant for the purposes of demonstrating just how in demand the place was.