ABC News chief national correspondent Matt Gutman has been suspended for violating a company policy on Covid-19 safety.
A spokesperson for the network declined to comment, as did Gutman.
A source familiar with the situation said that Gutman was suspended for violating company safety rules having to do with going into a hospital for a story without getting permission from management beforehand. It was not immediately clear how long the suspension will last.
Gutman, based in Los Angeles, has done extensive reporting on the Covid-19 crisis, particularly in a city that has been a hotspot for the pandemic. In early January, he reported on hospitals grappling with being able to care for all the rising number of patients, as they sought to also respond to other types of trauma emergencies.
Gutman was suspended last year over a false statement he made on-air in the immediate aftermath of the helicopter crash that killed NBA great Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven other people. In his live report, while details about the crash were still scarce and amid a lot of misinformation on social media, Gutman erroneously said that all four of Bryant’s daughters had been on board. Gutman later apologized on air and acknowledged the mistake on social media.
(Excerpt) Read more in: Deadline