John Stossel

John F. Stossel (born 6 March 1947) is a consumer reporter, author, libertarian columnist, and co-anchor for the ABC News show 20/20.[1] Stossel began his journalism career as a researcher for KGW-TV and later became a consumer reporter at WCBS-TV in New York City before joining ABC News as consumer editor and reporter on Good Morning America. Stossel went on to be an ABC News correspondent, joining the weekly news magazine program 20/20. In his decades as a reporter, Stossel has received numerous honors and awards. Stossel has also written two books entitled Give Me a Break and Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity. John Stossel was born in Chicago Heights, Illinois, the second of two boys. He overcame a stuttering problem so he could become a reporter, and is now a supporter and advocate for The Stuttering Foundation. Stossel graduated from Princeton University with a BA in Psychology in 1969 and was a member of Princeton Tower Club while there. He began his journalism career as a researcher for KGW-TV in Portland, Oregon. He later became a consumer reporter at WCBS-TV in New York City before joining ABC News as consumer editor and reporter on Good Morning America. Stossel was named co-anchor of ABC News’ 20/20 in May 2003. He joined the weekly news magazine program in 1981, initially as correspondent. His “Give Me a Break” segments featured a skeptical look at subjects from government regulations and pop culture to censorship and unfounded fear. The series was spun off into a series of one-hour specials, beginning 1994, with titles including “Stupid in America”, “Are We Scaring Ourselves to Death?”, “Junk Science: What You Know That May Not Be So”, “Boys and Girls Are Different”, “Freeloaders”, “Greed”, “Is America #1?”, “You Can’t Say That!”, “Stossel Goes to Washington”, “The Power of Belief”, and “Sick in America”. Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity, authored by John Stossel, was published on May 1, 2005.Stossel has written two books. Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media is an autobiography documenting his career and philosophical transition from liberalism to libertarianism. It describes his opposition to government regulation, his belief in free market and private enterprise, support for tort reform, and advocacy for shifting social services from the government to private charities. It was a New York Times bestseller for 11 weeks. Stossel’s news reports and writings attempt to debunk popular beliefs. His Myths and Lies series of 20/20 specials challenges a range of widely held beliefs. He also hosted The Power of Belief (October 6, 1998), an ABC News Special that focused on the claims of the paranormal and people’s desire to believe. Another report outlined why opposition to DDT is misplaced and that the ban on DDT has resulted in the death of millions of children, mostly in poor nations. Stossel agrees that global warming exists, but he is skeptical of definitive claims that it is caused by human activity. He asserts the science is not settled regarding the cause, and has argued that there is not a scientific consensus. He also challenges the notion that man-made climate change would have net negative consequences, pointing to warmer periods in human history. Central to his argument, he argues that groups and individuals get much more public attention, donations, and government funding when they proclaim “this will be terrible” than groups that say “this is nothing to worry about.” He points to groups like the World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace, Rachel Carson, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore as examples of environmental scaremongers.