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

Published

1 year ago

March 20, 2023

Photo by Gage Skidmore (Wikimedia Commons). Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode

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.

This afternoon, Tampa based @axios journalist @gangrey decided to respond to our press release with the below. pic.twitter.com/XkL5nBwZSs
— Alex Lanfranconi (@AlexLanfran) March 13, 2023

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.

Some personal news: I made crepes this morning for the first time in years. Strawberry compote and whipped cream. They were delicious. https://t.co/1rG4idEZsr

— Ben Montgomery (@gangrey) March 15, 2023