The New York Post pushed back on a former reporter’s allegations that she was forced to write a false story about Vice President Kamala Harris’s children’s book being distributed at a border holding facility.
The newspaper originally claimed migrant children were being gifted Harris’s book in a welcome kit. The Washington Post later gave this report “Four Pinocchios” in a fact-check and cited a spokesman for the city of Long Beach who said one copy of Harris’s book “Superheroes Are Everywhere” was donated by someone in the community.
Reporter Laura Italiano, who wrote the original article, announced her resignation shortly after the debacle on Twitter. Italiano tweeted that this was her “breaking point” and claimed the NY Post “ordered” her to write the “incorrect story.” (RELATED: Kamala Harris Says Demands For Her To Visit Border Are ‘Political Games’)
“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,” Italiano claimed in the thread. “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 NY Post pushed back on Italiano’s claims in a statement Friday, adding that the article was corrected, according to Mediaite.
“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 statement reads.
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.
— Laura Italiano (@Italiano_Laura) April 27, 2021
The NY Post updated its article and issued an editor’s note after temporarily deleting the piece, according to CNN.
The editor’s note reads: “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 given to a child.”