AP buries key detail on who removed ad campaign in NYC

“Seats on the 42nd Street shuttle between Times Square and Grand Central Terminal were wrapped in Nazi regalia to promote an Amazon video series called ‘The Man in the High Castle,'” AP reported. “The show depicts the aftermath of World War II as if the Axis powers triumphed.”

Numerous news outlets suggested in headlines Wednesday that Amazon was behind pulling the ad campaign, despite that the call reportedly came from Cuomo. For some, the decision raised questions about First Amendment rights and censorship.

The AP report noted that, “Officials confirmed Wednesday that Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered them removed,” but only in the last line of the story.

The ads, which first appeared earlier this month, were approved by New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Even after a growing number of people, including New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, complained that the Nazi-themed campaign was “irresponsible and offensive,” the agency continued to defend the controversial ads.

The agency explained that the campaign met its guidelines for public display.

Nevertheless, it was decided Wednesday that the ads would be pulled. But it wasn’t a company decision, and instead was made by Gov. Cuomo.

Asked by the Washington Examiner’s media desk why the detail about Cuomo was buried at the bottom of its report, an AP spokesman responded simply: “[It] is noted in the six-paragraph story.”

(h/t Mollie Hemingway)