Journalist Laura Italiano said Tuesday she had resigned from the New York Post after being ordered to write a false story that claimed migrant children were being given copies of a book authored by Vice President Kamala Harris in “welcome kits.”
The story, published last Friday, set off a days-long misinformation cycle among Republican leaders and on conservative media. The Washington Post debunked the claims Tuesday, demonstrating that the article appeared to be based entirely on one image of a single copy of Harris’ 2019 children’s book that was propped on a bed at a Long Beach, California shelter.
The article, which was published both online and in print, featured the front-page headline “Kam On In” in the print edition. The tabloid used a Reuters image of Harris’ book, Superheroes Are Everywhere, on a cot at a migrant shelter to suggest that the vice president’s work was being distributed en masse to undocumented kids.
Fox News and multiple high-profile Republicans amplified the story, suggesting that Harris was using taxpayer funds to profit off the situation at the southern border. A Fox News reporter even quizzed White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki about the book during a press briefing last week.
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In reality, Harris’ book was one of hundreds donated as part of a citywide book and toy drive, a spokesperson for the city of Long Beach told The Washington Post.
After the Post published its fact-check, the NYC tabloid took down its false article. It was later restored, with an editor’s note: “The original version of this article said migrant kids were getting Harris’ book in a welcome kit, but has been updated to note that only one known copy of the book was given to a child.”
Italiano, who has been writing for the New York tabloid since the 1990s, announced her resignation on Twitter:
The Kamala Harris story — an incorrect story I was ordered to write and which I failed to push back hard enough against — was my breaking point.
— Laura Italiano (@Italiano_Laura) April 27, 2021
It's been a privilege to cover the City of New York for its liveliest, wittiest tabloid — a paper filled with reporters and editors I admire deeply and hold as friends. I'm sad to leave.
— Laura Italiano (@Italiano_Laura) April 27, 2021
