CBS News uses pic of Elijah Cummings instead of John Lewis

by Sydney Smith December 31, 2019 01:37 PM EST

Tags: Apologies & Retractions, CNN, Diversity, Errors, Photojournalism Ethics, U.S.

John Lewis (Credit: http://johnlewis.house.gov/sites/johnlewis.house.gov/files/C2.jpg)

CBS News used a photo of deceased Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) with a story on Congressman John Lewis (D-GA) and his recent diagnosis of stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

In a tweet, CBS Evening News acknowledged the error.

“Tonight on the 6:30 p.m. ET broadcast of the CBS Evening News, one photograph was misidentified as Congressman John Lewis. We have replaced the photo in all broadcasts and platforms. We deeply regret the error,” CBS Evening News tweeted.

Mediaite published a video clip of the mistake.

The New York Post noted the error has been made before by Fox News. “In June, Fox News also mixed-up the lawmakers, airing a clip of Lewis and mistakenly labeling him as Cummings during a broadcast of ‘America’s Newsroom,'” NY Post reported.

Tonight on the 6:30 p.m. ET broadcast of the CBS Evening News, one photograph was misidentified as Congressman John Lewis. We have replaced the photo in all broadcasts and platforms. We deeply regret the error.
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) December 31, 2019