January 1, Reporter Fired For Calling DeSantis Press Release ‘Propaganda’

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY…
2016: Barack Obama becomes the first U.S. President to visit Cuba since 1928, arriving for a three-day tour.

An Axios reporter lost his job after he called a press release from Florida’s Department of Education “propaganda.”

Reporter Ben Montgomery made the remark in an email response to a news release from Florida’s Department of Education about a roundtable event with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).

“This is propaganda, not a press release,” Montgomery wrote, according to a screenshot posted by the department’s communications director.

The governor’s deputy press secretary Jeremy Redfern replied: “Is this a journalism?”

Montgomery said that a few hours after the email, he got a call from the executive editor of Axios Local, who told him that his reputation as a journalist had been tarnished, multiple outlets reported.

Sara Kehaulani Goo, the editor-in-chief of Axios, confirmed that Montgomery is no longer employed by the outlet, but declined to comment on the nature of his departure.

Source: The Hill