Newsweek demotes editor over fired reporter’s Thanksgiving story claiming Trump was ‘tweeting, golfing and more’ when he was actually headed to Afghanistan
- Jessica Kwong’s story was published on Thursday morning just hours before Trump made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan to be with troops
- ‘The story has been corrected, the reporter responsible was terminated and the editor was demoted,’ Newsweek said in a statement
- Kwong tweeted the change and shared that the report was ‘written before knowing about the president’s surprise visit to Afghanistan’
- She referred to the error as an ‘honest mistake’
- The initial story prompted fury from the Trump clan, with Donald Trump Jr tweeting ‘Fake news gonna fake’
- His father added: ‘I thought Newsweek was out of business?’
Jessica Kwong (pictured) was fired after writing the false story about Trump
Newsweek has demoted an editor responsible for publishing an article from a now fired reporter who claimed President Donald Trump was ‘Tweeting, golfing and more’ on Thanksgiving.
Jessica Kwong’s story was published on Thursday morning just hours before Trump made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan to be with troops.
Her initial headline read: ‘How is Trump spending Thanksgiving? Tweeting, golfing and more.’
‘Newsweek investigated the failures that led to the publication of the inaccurate report that President Trump spent Thanksgiving tweeting and golfing rather than visiting troops in Afghanistan,’ the publication said in a statement to iMediaEthics.
‘The story has been corrected, the reporter responsible was terminated and the editor was demoted. We will continue to review our processes and, if required, take further action.’
Her initial headline read: ‘How is Trump spending Thanksgiving? Tweeting, golfing and more’
The terminated reporter tweeted about the article change and shared that the report was ‘written before knowing about the president’s surprise visit to Afghanistan’ – which she referred to as an ‘honest mistake’
The publication added that the editor-in-chief of Newsweek, Nancy Cooper, has worked toward bringing ‘strong reporting’ to the newsroom.
‘This story did not meet the standards she has set,’ Newsweek added in their statement.
Kwong’s initial story has been updated to state the following: ‘This story has been substantially updated and edited at 6.17pm EST to reflect the president’s surprise trip to Afghanistan. Additional reporting by James Crowley.’
The terminated reporter tweeted the change to the story and shared that the report was ‘written before knowing about the president’s surprise visit to Afghanistan’ – which she referred to as an ‘honest mistake.’
The initial story prompted fury from the Trump clan, with Donald Trump Jr tweeting ‘Fake news gonna fake’ before his father retweeted it and added: ‘I thought Newsweek was out of business?’
The initial story prompted fury from the Trump clan, with Donald Trump Jr tweeting ‘Fake news gonna fake’
His father added: ‘I thought Newsweek was out of business?’
Trump joined the troops for a Thanksgiving meal, eating turkey, cornbread and mashed potatoes at a base in Afghanistan
Newsweek said in a statement that the story ‘did not meet the standards’ set by editor-in-chief Nancy Cooper (pictured)
Trump’s trip to Afghanistan was clouded in secrecy so it wouldn’t be revealed ahead of time – as was his Christmas 2018 visit to troops in Iraq – and had many moving parts, including a decoy plane and tweets preset to send from the president’s account so there would no suspicion if the Twitterer-in-chief went silent.
Reporters traveling with the president were not allowed to reveal his trip and location until shortly before he was preparing to leave.
The president left Florida Wednesday night and flew to Joint Base Andrews and, from there, on to Afghanistan in a trip that was unannounced for security reasons.
He spent just over three and a half hours on the ground in his first visit to Afghanistan.