USA Today
USA Today reporter Tom Vanden Brook and editor Ray Locker both had complained of a number of fake online presences created in their names — fake websites, Facebook and Twitter accounts, a Wikipedia entry and “dozens of message board postings and blog comments” — after they reported critically on the military’s spending on propaganda contractors. A Pentagon official told the paper in April that all contractors denied involvement. Thursday, Gregory Korte reports that Camille Chidiac, the minority owner and former president of Leonie Industries, took “full responsibility.” || Related: GAO auditing Pentagon propaganda campaigns (USA Today)
Uncategorized
Pentagon contractor admits to propaganda campaign against USA Today journalists
Support high-integrity, independent journalism that serves democracy. Make a gift to Poynter today. The Poynter Institute is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, and your gift helps us make good journalism better.
Donate
More News
Opinion | Rashida Jones steps down as MSNBC president as the network faces uncertainty
Comcast plans to spin off MSNBC and its other cable channels into a separate publicly traded company
January 15, 2025
Did Joe Biden keep these 99 promises? PolitiFact reviewed his presidential record
Biden kept 33 promises. He compromised on 32. And he broke 34 promises. Here's what he did and didn't accomplish.
January 15, 2025
Opinion | The hits just keep on coming for The Washington Post
Jennifer Rubin, an outspoken critic of Donald Trump and a prolific, strongly opinionated and well-respected columnist, is leaving the paper
January 14, 2025
Behind the dramatic moment when NBC News’ Gadi Schwartz helped to rescue a horse from the Eaton fire
‘We ran over and you could see there was a horse that was trapped. And there was no one around.’
January 14, 2025
From storefront to global influence: A brief origin story as Poynter turns 50
Poynter’s first home was a pest-ridden, art-deco bank building next to the Emerald Bar in downtown St. Petersburg
January 14, 2025