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St1834 t1_ixg1vyr wrote

Reply to comment by GD_American in Associated Press reporter fired over erroneous story on Russian attack by Moynamama

The conversation isn't about whether LaPorta's tip is correct, it's about whether LaPorta's correct tip was enough to publish based off of. It assumed LaPorta was correct because he shouldn't have brought in a tip if he hadn't verified it properly according to AP's standards first. And like the article said, AP found he hadn't and implied this wasn't the first time.

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GD_American t1_ixg272d wrote

The confusion came from LaPorta saying that the source had been previously vetted and the editors assuming he was saying the tip had been vetted. So while he's not 100% blameless, come on. He was passing a tip in his off time. The editors had the responsibility to verify.

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St1834 t1_ixg2pac wrote

He is the reporter. He has the responsibility to verify. In some cases, the reporter is the only one who knows the anonymous source. They assumed the tip was properly vetted because it shouldn't have been brought to them otherwise. If he was too busy, he should have passed it off to another trusted reporter, not sent it up the chain with an unclear status. And then, when asked if this was enough to publish based on, he should have said "NO because this doesn't meet AP's reporting guidelines. Sorry if I wasn't clear." not "not my job".

And, again, AP's statement implied this wasn't an isolated incident. Blame is 100% on him, this was a totally half-assed reporting job.

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GD_American t1_ixg4i38 wrote

If you literally read the link you can see, he wasn't the reporter. He literally passed along a tip. It's a lead- the kind professionals share with each other all the time. He didn't submit this as a story, he didn't push to publish (and in fact explicitly tossed that decision to editors), he literally said "hey heard this from a guy, who another guy we know trusts, do with it what you will, I'm at the doctor".

Yet you keep pointing to implied smears from the AP against the guy they just scapegoated, and ignore actual screenshots of the conversation in question

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St1834 t1_ixg52sv wrote

>he wasn't the reporter. He literally passed along a tip.

So, that means he was the reporter. Reporters report tips. If he wasn't busy, he would have written the story too. That's what they were asking him to do.

>he didn't push to publish (and in fact explicitly tossed that decision to editors)

Giving them a tip that he knew or should have known didn't meet AP reporting standards and then not telling them not to publish based on that.

>he literally said "hey heard this from a guy, who another guy we know trusts

He didn't. If he did, they would have said "oh, this is wrong, go back and do it the right way". He took a tip up the chain, written in an unclear way, that he should have known didn't meet reporting standards, and didn't make clear that it didn't meet reporting standards, even when asked if it should be reported.

>Yet you keep pointing to implied smears from the AP against the guy they just scapegoated, and ignore actual screenshots of the conversation in question

No, I'm pointing out what's going on in the conversation and then also pointing out that the AP said this wasn't an isolated incident.

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Kernel32Sanders t1_ixg49tt wrote

Lol that is the dumbest thing I'll read today.

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