Real News Adventures: USA Today Removes Nearly Two Dozen Stories with Alleged Fabrications
July 12, 2022
Fake news or shoddy management? Perhaps a bit of both. Mediaite reports, “USA Today Deletes 23 Articles Following Investigation into Alleged Fabrication by Reporter.” That is a lot of articles to slip past the editors, and it took a nudge from an outside source to put a stop to the allegedly fictional reporting. Writer Gabriela Miranda is also said to have interfered with the publication’s inquiry into the allegations, according to the New York Times piece that broke the news. Writer Jackson Richman quotes a statement USA Today posted on its website:
“After receiving an external correction request, USA Today audited the reporting work of Gabriela Miranda. The audit revealed that some individuals quoted were not affiliated with the organizations claimed and appeared to be fabricated. The existence of other individuals quoted could not be independently verified. In addition, some stories included quotes that should have been credited to others. As a result, USA Today removed 23 articles from its website and other platforms for not meeting our editorial standards. The headlines of the articles are listed below. Miranda has resigned as a reporter for USA Today and the USA Today Network.”
Well that’s embarrassing. The USA Today post goes on to list steps it will take to prevent false reporting in the future, or at least to catch it sooner. The assurances also serve to indicate what may have gone wrong this time, promising to:
“1. Improve our process for those who want to lodge complaints or request corrections.
2. Ensure stories have clear and sufficient identifying information for individuals quoted.
3. Ensure that reporters take appropriate steps at all times to verify source information.
4. Ensure that institutions are contacted to provide a response or statement if they are referenced in the story.
5. Apply additional scrutiny to sources found through blind connections on social media platforms, via email, etc.
6. Reinforce our standards for crediting other outlets for their work.”
We think those steps should have been fundamental to real journalism from the beginning, but what do we know? The statement ends with a list of the offending articles, in case one is curious, but clicking each headline only leads to a notice of removal. Will USA Today take its own vows seriously, or is this list just more fake news?
Cynthia Murrell, July 12, 2022
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