Newsweek has demoted the editor who published and failed to update an inaccurate story about President Trump’s Thanksgiving Day plans, days after the publication terminated the reporter who wrote the story.
The outlet initially published the article Thursday morning, before the president’s trip to Afghanistan was announced. The story’s original headline was, “How is Trump spending Thanksgiving? Tweeting, golfing and more.”
In response to backlash from the story, which included attacks from both the president and Donald Trump Jr., Newsweek decided on Saturday to part ways with Jessica Kwong, the reporter who wrote the story. A representative for the outlet told the Washington Examiner on Monday that the editor responsible for the situation was also demoted, though he did not reveal what the editor’s new title would be.
Kwong previously told the Washington Examiner that she was assigned to write a story on what Trump was doing on Thanksgiving about a week before the holiday. She filed the story to her editor the day before Thanksgiving and relayed news of the president’s Thanksgiving morning tweets, after which the editor published.
When the news of Trump’s secret trip to Afghanistan broke, the editor decided to have another reporter write a story about it. James Crowley, who is listed as a fellow on Newsweek‘s website, wrote an article titled, “President Trump Pays Surprise Visit To U.S. Troops In Afghanistan,” which was published shortly after the trip was revealed.
Kwong alleges that her editor did not update her piece in a timely manner. The story was updated hours later with a new headline, with a note at the bottom of the story. The angle of the story was also changed to focus on the president’s trip.
The new headline reads, “How is Trump spending Thanksgiving? Tweeting, golfing — and surprising U.S. troops in Afghanistan,” while the note at the end of the story reads, “This story has been substantially updated and edited at 6:17 p.m. EST to reflect the president’s surprise trip to Afghanistan. Additional reporting by James Crowley.”
Kwong apologized on social media for the story, saying it was “an honest mistake,” adding the story had been updated, and she had deleted a tweet about the original story.
