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AP fired reporter after dangerous blunder – Slack chats reveal chaotic process

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Re: AP fired reporter after dangerous blunder – Slack chats reveal chaotic process

#41

Post by ncallaway »

ajross wrote: post #4
ncallaway wrote: post #3

Frankly, this seems like an editorial mistake not a journalists mistake. Unless he completely made up the information he received, or lied about the attribution in the internal slack chat, he should not have been fired for this. This was an editorial error. In fact, the exact information he passed along was factually correct by one interpretation. The S-300 rockets were "Russian" in the sense that they were Russian m…

That seems likely, but you still don't let the reporter off the hook. "Technically correct by one interpretation" isn't the standard for journalistic sourcing. He needed another source or more context (just an identification of these as AA missiles would have been enough to kill the story) and didn't get one. It was a messup on a few different axes, but it's started with bad journalism. Whether or not the guy was fir…

> He needed another source or more context (just an identification of these as AA missiles would have been enough to kill the story) and didn't get one.

Did you read the slack chat?

The journalist 100% does not need another source to inform his internal team of the initial story or the sourcing.

Did the journalist make the decision to publish? NO! They said that decision was above their pay grade. When people asked for clarifying information, they said they didn't have any.

That's why it was an editorial mistake.

Frankly, I simply don't see how you can conclude the journalist needed another source, given that it clearly it wasn't their decision to publish the article. That was an...editorial decision! Which is why I think the blame for publishing without enough information should go to...the editorial team

Re: AP fired reporter after dangerous blunder – Slack chats reveal chaotic process

#43

Post by elihu »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #6
ajross wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That seems likely, but you still don't let the reporter off the hook. "Technically correct by one interpretation" isn't the standard for journalistic sourcing. He needed another source or more context (just an identification of these as AA missiles would have been enough to kill the story) and didn't get one. It was a messup on a few different axes, but it's started with bad journalism. Whether or not the guy was fir…

> just an identification of these as AA missiles would have been enough to kill the story I understand why "Russia fires on Poland" is news. Why is "Ukraine fires on Poland, blames Russia" not news?

Because there's no intentionality involved, and it's unlikely to escalate into a military conflict. "Ukraine fires an S-300 at a Russian missile but it misses and kills a couple people in Poland" is a tragic accident, probably newsworthy, but not in the same way as Russia or Ukraine deliberately launching missiles into Poland would.

I think Russia deserves most of the blame for this incident, since it wouldn't have happened if they weren't trying to destroy their neighbor.

Zelensky continuing to insist the missile that hit Poland was launched by Russia would be news I suppose. I think that's what he was saying early on, but I haven't been following the story; maybe he gave up on that once more information came out.

Re: AP fired reporter after dangerous blunder – Slack chats reveal chaotic process

#44

Post by neilv »

There's not enough information here, and I also don't know how trustworthy it is.

One way the AP could handle this situation is to bring in an outside investigation panel of impeccable credentials.

Outside journalists could also investigate without approval (that's one of their capabilities), but access to information might be harder, and then there's the question of why AP isn't driving that.

Re: AP fired reporter after dangerous blunder – Slack chats reveal chaotic process

#45

Post by faddypaddy34 »

phyzome wrote: post #30

What's with the assertion that countries would go to war over a hasty AP report? Pretty sure military action would be taken based on the same primary sources that the AP was relying on, not just taking the AP's word for it...

Considering that Ukrainian leadership was tweeting that NATO needed to get involved after this story ran, despite the fact that they had to know where the missile originated is the real problem. They used this quickly ran story to literally try and rush WW3 instead of owning up to their mistakes.

Re: AP fired reporter after dangerous blunder – Slack chats reveal chaotic process

#46

Post by ramesh31 »

We've had AWACS in the air watching the Ukrainian border round the clock since Feb. 24. That means anything bigger than a seagull has been tracked with pinpoint precision from launch to terminus. Particularly so for anything that could have been fired from Russian positions. Anyone with a brain would have known to wait for the official US government statement before making a call on this. Total negligence.

Re: AP fired reporter after dangerous blunder – Slack chats reveal chaotic process

#47

Post by ekianjo »

IncRnd wrote: post #22

The people in that Slack thread, except for the reporter James LaPorta, exhibited an incredible amount of willful ignorance that bordered on stupidity. The original statement was vague and did not name a source. It held the pretense of a source by saying an unnamed senior American intelligence official was in some capacity vetted by Ron Nixon. It's not clear whether the person was vetted as an official, if his words…

People seem to only discover now that AP is not even a remotely reliable organization. You just had to read their news to find out.

Re: AP fired reporter after dangerous blunder – Slack chats reveal chaotic process

#48

Post by kQq9oHeAz6wLLS »

phyzome wrote: post #30

What's with the assertion that countries would go to war over a hasty AP report? Pretty sure military action would be taken based on the same primary sources that the AP was relying on, not just taking the AP's word for it...

Russia likely sees the AP as a propaganda tool of the West, and as such treats it as semi-official.

Re: AP fired reporter after dangerous blunder – Slack chats reveal chaotic process

#50

Post by HWR_14 »

ajross wrote: post #12
HWR_14 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> . He needed another source or more context To publish, maybe. He was at a doctors appointment, got a tip, and passed it to his boss. He didn't write the news alert. If they wanted more context, the other people on the chat should have found some.

That's not how I read the linked story? That particular Slack message happened to coincide with his doctor's appointment, but the article that printed had his byline on it. Surely he wrote it, or at the very least dictated it to an editor who put it in the system. No one publishes stories on the wire based on a two-message slack thread sent from the doctor's office!

What article with his byline? It looks like someone else wrote the news alert that's discussed in the linked article.
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