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LaPorta’s firing was first reported Monday night via The Daily Beast.
LaPorta declined to comment. A former U. S. Marine who served in Afghanistan, he joined the AP in April 2020 after several years as a freelance journalist. He covered military affairs and national security issues for the press service.
Associated Press officials declined to identify LaPorta as the source of the alert. In a statement, AP spokeswoman Lauren Easton said, “The Associated Press’ rigorous editorial criteria and practices are imperative to AP’s project as an independent news organization. To ensure that our reports are accurate, fair and fact-based, we meet and apply those criteria, adding with respect to the use of anonymous sources. When our criteria are violated, we will have to take mandatory measures to protect the integrity of history. We don’t make those decisions lightly, or on the basis of remote incidents.
Internal AP communications noted through The Post show some confusion and false impression when the report is erroneous.
LaPorta shared the U. S. official’s recommendation in an email around 1:30 p. m. M. ET. An editor immediately asked if AP includes an alert in its pipeline, “or would we want confirmation from some other source and/or from Poland?”
After further discussion, a one-time editor said he would “vote” to factor an alert, adding, “I can’t believe any U. S. intelligence official would be able to do so. UU. se wrong. “
But an Associated Press user familiar with the broader conversations surrounding the story that day said LaPorta also told its editors that a senior executive had already verified the source of LaPorta’s board of directors, giving the impression that the source of the story had been approved. While this publisher had approved LaPorta Source Past Stories, this editor had not intervened in the missile’s story.
Easton said the organization envisioned any field for the writers involved.