The Associated Press quietly scrapped a headline after tying the United States to the deaths of innocent civilians aboard a passenger flight that was shot down by Iran.
The original headline was: “An Iranian general dies in U.S. attack, and innocents suffer.” The headline outraged many for connecting the U.S. to the deaths of the passengers, rather than the Iranian regime whose anti-aircraft missiles blew up the flight, carrying mostly Ukrainian and Canadian passengers to Kyiv, on Wednesday morning.
Canadian authorities have confirmed that the flight was blasted out of the sky by missiles, despite Iran’s withholding of the airplane’s black box recorder. It is not yet clear if Iran intentionally shot down the airplane.
After many Twitter users condemned the Associated Press’s headline connecting President Trump to the death of innocent people, the outlet changed the headline to: “As Iran and US take step back from the brink, Canada grieves.”
There was no editor’s note explaining the headline change, and the original headline continued to appear in search engine results for outlets with publishing rights to Associated Press stories. Many attacked the Associated Press’s White House reporter Zeke Miller, who deleted a tweet with the original headline.
[Read: Video shows moment that Iran shot down passenger jet, killing all 176 on board]
Google results show this AP story was originally headlined:
“An Iranian general dies in US attack, and innocents suffer”Now:
“As Iran and US take step back from the brink, Canada grieves”No editor’s note noting change or explaining original headline.https://t.co/srGJwqPpZa pic.twitter.com/cmN3hDUOiD
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) January 10, 2020
The media really despises America. And, sadly, they believe their disgust for this country is a winning message if it’s cloaked as “journalism.” ?? https://t.co/hiJZfjZQvq
— Dan Bongino (@dbongino) January 10, 2020
Associated Press Blames Trump for Iran Shooting Down Ukrainian Plane https://t.co/OaWUmRnzKQ pic.twitter.com/TeDuESdwVR
— Chuck Woolery (@chuckwoolery) January 10, 2020
Someone give me an explanation for this headline in the United States of America. https://t.co/8I7Ra0pO0l
— Josh Holmes (@HolmesJosh) January 10, 2020
what the… https://t.co/s7A8LrHBbM
— Matt Wolking (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@MattWolking) January 10, 2020
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran had escalated for months before Trump ordered the drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Iran responded on Wednesday by firing missiles at U.S. bases, but no Americans were killed during the strikes. The U.S. did not retaliate with further strikes, and Trump attempted to de-escalate the situation between the two countries.
