The Associated Press (AP) has fired a journalist who wrote about the fall of “Russian missiles” in Poland. This was reported on November 21 by “The Daily Beast”.
It is noted that in the article, which was written jointly with John Leicester, who continues to work at the agency, the information was attributed to one “high-ranking US intelligence officer.” At the same time, the AP referred to the rule of journalism that there should be at least two sources for the material.
As a result, the article stating that “Russian missiles crossed the territory of Poland” was removed. Instead, an editor’s note appeared, which claims that the only source was incorrect, and that the missiles were most likely fired by Ukraine.
“The Associated Press scared much of the world last Tuesday when it alerted readers that 'a senior U.S. intelligence official' said 'Russian missiles crossed into NATO member Poland, killing two people.' That report, which was widely cited across the internet and on cable news, was taken offline the following day and replaced with an editor’s note admitting the single source was wrong and that 'subsequent reporting showed that the missiles were Russian-made and most likely fired by Ukraine in defense against a Russian attack.' On Monday, the AP fired James LaPorta, the investigative reporter responsible for that story,” the material says.
The fall of a rocket on the territory of the village of Przewodow in the east of Poland, resulting in the death of two people, was reported on November 15, 2022. Some Western politicians expressed the opinion that it could be a Russian missile.
In Moscow, speculation about Russia’s likely attitude to the incident was called a provocation, stressing that the country’s Armed Forces did not strike targets near the Polish-Ukrainian border. Later, the missile fragments were identified by Russian experts as elements of the Ukrainian S-300 anti-aircraft missile system.
The Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Peskov, called the reaction of the West another explosion of “rabid Russophobia”, which is not based on real data. Poland’s president later confirmed that Russia has nothing to do with the missile.
Ru-Main, 22.11.2022
Source: Izvestia
