Shop

Weiser dissects how ABC reporters and researchers led by Walt Bogdanich, a Pulitzer-Prize winning former writer for the Wall Street Journal, concluded that cigarette manufacturers manipulated the levels of nicotine in cigarettes. The revelation was aired in a story called "Smoke Screen" for the newsmagazine Day One. Philip Morris sued ABC News after the story appeared -- and sparked tumultuous discussion about regulating tobacco. ABC News formally apologized for the story, but the reporters on the segment refused. Weiser suggests that the reporters had "led" sources for the story to make incriminating statements and had not assembled enough solid evidence to prove that cigarette manufacturers manipulated nicotine levels.