The New York Post is denying ordering a reporter to write “inaccurate information” about migrant children at a shelter in Long Beach, Calif, allegedly receiving copies of Vice President Kamala Harris’ children’s book.
“The New York Post does not order reporters to deliberately publish factually inaccurate information. In this case, the story was amended as soon as it came to the editors’ attention that it was inaccurate,” the publication wrote in a statement to Mediaite.
The statement comes just days after former New York Post reporter Laura Italiano announced her resignation, as IJR reported.
“An announcement: Today I handed in my resignation to my editors at the New York Post,” Italiano tweeted on Tuesday, adding, “The Kamala Harris story – an incorrect story I was ordered to write and which I failed to push back hard enough against – was my breaking point. It’s been a privilege to cover the City of New York for its liveliest, wittiest tabloid – a paper filled with reporters and editors I admire deeply and hold as friends. I’m sad to leave.”
The story, titled “Kam On In,” ran on the front page of the publication.
A fact check from The Washington Post explained the story falsely claimed, “Unaccompanied migrant kids brought from the U.S.-Mexico border to a new shelter in Long Beach, Calif., will be given a copy of her 2019 children’s book, ‘Superheroes are Everywhere,’ in their welcome kits.”
It added, “The New York Post article had no attribution for the claim that Harris’s book was being distributed in welcome kits.”
After temporarily deleting, editing, and republishing the article, the New York Post added an editor’s note, “The original version of this article said migrant kids were getting Harris’ book in a welcome kit, but has been updated to note that only one known copy of the book was donated to a child.”
