International Business Times UK reporter Ludovica Iaccino may write for a living, but has she got the words to explain this?
Last week, Iaccino penned an article claiming that the anti-government protests in Ukraine were being led by an “unnamed” “former Israeli army officer. Here’s the kicker: Iaccino’s source for that juicy piece of information was PressTV, the Tehran-based Iranian news network. That didn’t escape the attention of Daily Beast editorial director Michael Moynihan:
https://twitter.com/mcmoynihan/status/438756166693552129
Caught red-handed, Iaccino did what any lying liar would do — she dug herself into an even deeper hole:
@mcmoynihan The article clearly states that: "the Iranian news channel was set up by the fiercely anti-Zionist Islamic regime"
— Ludovica Iaccino (@LudovicaIaccino) February 27, 2014
She should’ve known better.
https://twitter.com/mcmoynihan/status/439102059728896000
Let’s take a look at just the headlines (as of this post’s publication, the U.K.’s Yahoo! News still shows the article as originally written):
vs.
Notice a difference?
https://twitter.com/mcmoynihan/status/439102245905240064
https://twitter.com/mcmoynihan/status/439103033167720449
Surreptitiously altering the headline was bad enough. But apparently Iaccino took it further still:
.@mcmoynihan Wait. Did @LudovicaIaccino change the article after the fact and pretend that phrasing was always there?
— RBe (@RBPundit) February 27, 2014
https://twitter.com/mcmoynihan/status/439104188576845825
Again, let’s compare the original version:
With the one now posted at IBT’s website:
That’s not harmless tweaking; it’s full-blown journalistic malpractice.
@RBPundit @mcmoynihan @LudovicaIaccino Yes. With the same time-stamp and no update indicated: https://t.co/fm5eP9WFDy
— Jeremy Duns (@JeremyDuns) February 27, 2014
https://twitter.com/mcmoynihan/status/439105128440684544
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Iaccino should be ashamed. But she apparently doesn’t possess the requisite integrity to feel shame.
@mcmoynihan @LudovicaIaccino Indeed. A line she added after you pointed out, with no indication she had done so. Very dishonest indeed.
— Jeremy Duns (@JeremyDuns) February 27, 2014
It seems Iaccino’s issues aren’t just journalistic; they’re also moral.
@mcmoynihan @LudovicaIaccino How bizarre is this? http://t.co/rEPtUlIh6B Hitler bad, Mao… not so much. Okaaay.
— Jeremy Duns (@JeremyDuns) February 27, 2014
https://twitter.com/mcmoynihan/status/439107745065611264
https://twitter.com/mcmoynihan/status/439111299621191682
https://twitter.com/mcmoynihan/status/439111739117166592
Let’s recap:
@guywalters @mcmoynihan @LudovicaIaccino So all in all, a very credible article from a very credible source by a very credible writer.
— Jeremy Duns (@JeremyDuns) February 27, 2014
Clearly stated.