Blackwater Reporting

AP omits, then adds, major fact in gun story

How did federal authorities learn about the two Blackwater employees who ultimately pled guilty to stealing guns in Iraq?

Readers wouldn't know from most of the press coverage. AP's September 21st article about a Joseph Neff Raleigh News & Observer/McClatchy story omits a major detail: Blackwater USA discovered the crime, fired the employees, and alerted federal authorities who made the arrests.

The next day, on September 22, the AP's David Scott reported a very different version: "Blackwater said Saturday the company immediately fired the men after learning they were stealing from the company and invited the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to investigate. The company pointed to news coverage from 2005, in which a spokesman for the ATF's Charlotte office confirmed the company came forward to authorities and asked for help."

Again we see a bias in the headline-writers. Rather than say that Blackwater alerted ATF in 2005, the Associated Press editors chose inflammatory and guilty-sounding language in the headline: "Blackwater Denies Smuggling Allegations."

AP casts doubt on Neff's word

The Associated Press has picked up on Joseph Neff's Blackwater coverage, and in at least one case cast doubt on its reliability.

On September 22, AP correspondent Matthew Lee ran a piece based on Neff's now-discredited report that federal authorities were investigating Blackwater as a company for arms smuggling. "The News & Observer, citing unidentified sources, reported that the probe was looking at whether Blackwater had shipped unlicensed automatic weapons and military goods to Iraq without a license," the AP reporter wrote, adding his own professional doubts about Neff's report: "The paper's report that the company itself was under investigation could not be confirmed by the AP."

Washington Post headline not supported by facts

The Washington Post ran Matthew Lee's September 21 AP story on page A10 of its September 22 edition, attaching a headline and sub-head indicating that Blackwater as a firm is the subject of a smuggling probe, and that the company might be charged.

The version appearing on the WashingtonPost.com contained the full AP text. But Post editors cut down the story to 9 paragraphs in the print edition - none of which said that Blackwater USA was the subject of investigation or might be charged.

Nevertheless the headline and sub-head stated as fact, "Security Firm Is in Smuggling Probe; Blackwater May Be Charged for Bringing Weapons Into Iraq."

Sloppy AP editors twist correspondent's reporting

Sloppy editors at the Associated Press put another phony headline on their reporter's careful coverage of Blackwater USA.

This time, they took a September 21 story by correspondent Matthew Lee and added a headline that directly contradicts Lee's reporting. The headline on the AP website reads, "Feds Target Blackwater In Weapons Probe."

But Lee doesn't say that in his story. Indeed, he reports the opposite.

(1) Lee never says that federal authorities are targeting the company itself - he reports that they are probing two employees. But he neglects to say are ex-employees whom Blackwater had fired.

(2) In contrast to the headline, Lee cites unnamed US officials who "could not say whether the investigation would result in indictments, how many Blackwater employees are involved or if the company itself . . . is under scrutiny."

(3) The AP reporter quotes the Raleigh News & Observer (Joseph Neff) as "citing unidentified sources" who reported that Blackwater itself was being investigated. But he does not take the newspaper's report at face value. Lee carefully adds in the 10th paragraph of the story, "The paper's report that the company itself was under investigation could not be confirmed by the AP."

So why the misleading headline? At least one AP editor appears to be twisting the reports of his own correspondents, skewing the headlines to reflect negatively on Blackwater. A Google News search shows those headlines have been repeated in newspapers around the world.