General Discussion

Recursion

(56,582 posts) Fri Oct 25, 2013, 03:18 AM Oct 2013

Wow: AP has fired a reporter and two editors over the McAuliffe story

Here's a Washington Post piece on it (which, ironically, contains a factual correction itself).

Longtime AP reporter Bob Lewis was fired this week after mistakenly reporting that Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe (D) had lied to a federal investigator probing a Rhode Island estate planner involved in a fraudulent death-benefits scheme.

...

Faced with the mistake, AP moved swiftly to rectify the error. It sent out a “mandatory kill” notification 98 minutes after distributing Lewis’s item on its state wire Oct. 9. It then sent out a longer story under Lewis’s byline that recounted events accurately.

..

After several days of deliberations, AP fired Lewis on Monday, followed by his immediate editor in Richmond, Dena Potter. On Tuesday, regional editor Norm Gomlak confirmed that he, too, had been fired over the story. Gomlak, who is based in Atlanta, was the primary editor of Lewis’s story because Potter was tied up with an unrelated story Oct. 9.

Lewis, 57, makes no excuses about the mistake. But, he said Tuesday, he feels “stunned and hurt” by his firing after 28 years of “unblemished” service to the AP. “I still can’t really wrap my head around it,” he said by phone from Richmond. “The only blessing out of this has been the expressions of support” from friends, colleagues and many of the officials he has covered over his career, including Virginia’s two senators and former governors, Timothy M. Kaine (D) and Mark R. Warner (D), and the state’s current governor, Robert F. McDonnell (R).

Well, accountability is surprising and refreshing...

18 replies

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Highlight:

Wow: AP has fired a reporter and two editors over the McAuliffe story (Original Post) Recursion Oct 2013 OP

Big fuckups like that always lead to firings, imo. joshcryer Oct 2013 #1

Oddly enough, this guy still has a job after being "least untruthful" in Congressional testimony Fumesucker Oct 2013 #2

He's an idiot, but he wasn't lying about a candidate for elective office. nt MADem Oct 2013 #4

Well, that's comforting Fumesucker Oct 2013 #10

What they did was EGREGIOUS. And they did it right before an election, too--October Surprise. MADem Oct 2013 #3

Totally agreed Recursion Oct 2013 #5

I agree with you there--the editors should have been the "voice of reason" while the reporter MADem Oct 2013 #7

Editorial desks have been slashed -- note the editor of record was actually doing something else Recursion Oct 2013 #9

Yeah, that was the biggest deal. joshcryer Oct 2013 #6

I doubt he made the assumption, he merely believed what the Cuccinelli campaign was telling him. FSogol Oct 2013 #13

Didn't Colbert call the press corps the "Stenography Pool" in his press club speech? Recursion Oct 2013 #17

Good on Accountability! thanks Recursion Cha Oct 2013 #8

Where is the person who kept posting the story here? whttevrr Oct 2013 #11

Don't hold your breath. n/t FSogol Oct 2013 #14

Yeah, I wouldn't hold my breath on that one (nt) Recursion Oct 2013 #15

I remember that poster. Kept insisting it was true Lex Oct 2013 #16

Too bad he didn't work for Fox News - would have been a promotion over there. bullwinkle428 Oct 2013 #12

Good, it's surprising that the paper fired the reporters gopiscrap Oct 2013 #18

joshcryer

(62,276 posts)

1. Big fuckups like that always lead to firings, imo.

Reply to Recursion (Original post)

Fri Oct 25, 2013, 03:30 AM

Oct 2013

The photo shopped pics for instance.

This was one of the rare times AP actually blacklisted and recalled a story. That is a pretty massive fuck up on APs part.

Fumesucker

(45,851 posts)

2. Oddly enough, this guy still has a job after being "least untruthful" in Congressional testimony

Reply to joshcryer (Reply #1)

Fri Oct 25, 2013, 03:34 AM

Oct 2013

MADem

(135,425 posts)

4. He's an idiot, but he wasn't lying about a candidate for elective office. nt

Reply to Fumesucker (Reply #2)

Fri Oct 25, 2013, 03:36 AM

Oct 2013

Fumesucker

(45,851 posts)

10. Well, that's comforting

Reply to MADem (Reply #4)

Fri Oct 25, 2013, 03:50 AM

Oct 2013

We have "an idiot" who lied about spying on the American people in charge of a remarkably powerful and secretive government agency.

You have put my mind at ease..

MADem

(135,425 posts)

3. What they did was EGREGIOUS. And they did it right before an election, too--October Surprise.

Reply to Recursion (Original post)

Fri Oct 25, 2013, 03:34 AM

Oct 2013

Their actions could have swung an election, one that shouldn't swing to the right.

It was a MAJOR fuck-up. AP would have irreparably damaged their reputation if they papered it over and said "Oh, well" in a FauxSnooze kind of fashion...

I feel bad that a guy did 28 years and got the boot, but it wasn't an "unintentional mistake." This guy made a leap of judgment, and assumed that two initials "TM" meant Terry McAuliffe--but he had no verification that that's what they meant. He just made a silly-assed guess.

That's what happens when people WANT to believe something. They lose their perspective.

Recursion

(56,582 posts)

5. Totally agreed

Reply to MADem (Reply #3)

Fri Oct 25, 2013, 03:38 AM

Oct 2013

Jumping from initials to a name with no verification is absolutely inexcusable, and he's been a journalist too long to claim it was just a "dumb mistake" IMO. I'm just surprised and glad to see the two editors who passed on it were let go too.

MADem

(135,425 posts)

7. I agree with you there--the editors should have been the "voice of reason" while the reporter

Reply to Recursion (Reply #5)

Fri Oct 25, 2013, 03:43 AM

Oct 2013

played the hound after the scent.

Instead, it's almost as if they'd checked out of the supervisory function entirely.

Recursion

(56,582 posts)

9. Editorial desks have been slashed -- note the editor of record was actually doing something else

Reply to MADem (Reply #7)

Fri Oct 25, 2013, 03:44 AM

Oct 2013

That's a huge red flag to me: if Potter was the editor of the story, why was she in Atlanta too busy with other things making Gomlak have to sign off on it?

joshcryer

(62,276 posts)

6. Yeah, that was the biggest deal.

Reply to MADem (Reply #3)

Fri Oct 25, 2013, 03:40 AM

Oct 2013

The fact that it was a politician, during election season.

I do think it was an unintended mistake, I think Bob Lewis got carried away once he found that Terry did have investments in that company and just put two and two together (wrongly). I mean, if true, it would've been a big story. When you know a story is going to be big, you get it right.

FSogol

(45,488 posts)

13. I doubt he made the assumption, he merely believed what the Cuccinelli campaign was telling him.

Reply to MADem (Reply #3)

Fri Oct 25, 2013, 09:54 AM

Oct 2013

It was his job to check and he didn't do it. More news organizations need to clean house. Too many "news" stories these days are written by PACs, political campaigns, lobbyists, PR departments, and are then printed verbatim by lazy journalists.