Axios reporter fired after calling news release on DeSantis event ‘propaganda’

[Morrison71]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2023/03/15/axios-reporter-ben-montgomery-fired/

An Axios reporter in Tampa said he was fired this week after he responded to a Florida Department of Education email about an event featuring Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), calling the news release "propaganda."

Ben Montgomery said he received a call on Monday evening from Jamie Stockwell, executive editor of Axios Local, who asked Montgomery to confirm he sent the email before saying the reporter's "reputation in the Tampa Bay area" had been "irreparably tarnished."

The news release sent Monday afternoon said DeSantis, a potential 2024 GOP presidential candidate, had hosted a roundtable "exposing the diversity equity and inclusion scam in higher education." It also called for prohibiting state funds from being used to support DEI efforts.

"We will expose the scams they are trying to push onto students across the country," DeSantis said in the statement.

Montgomery, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, replied to the email three minutes after getting it. "This is propaganda, not a press release," he wrote to the Department of Education press office.

About an hour after that, the Education Department's communication officer, Alex Lanfranconi, shared Montgomery's reply on Twitter, where it has since been viewed more than 1 million times.
Montgomery said the news release had "no substance," adding that he "read the whole thing and it was just a series of quotes about how bad DEI was."
Axios editor in chief Sara Kehaulani Goo confirmed Montgomery is no longer employed by Axios, but declined to comment further.
Click to shrink...

Axios allowed reporters in 2020 to join racial justice demonstrations after the police killing of George Floyd, but restricted its journalists from protesting for or against abortion rights two years later.

The reaction in the newsroom has been a mix of sadness for losing a colleague and fear that something similar could happen to them, according to a person familiar with internal meetings who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal exchanges.

Montgomery said his former co-workers have expressed "outrage" to him about what happened.
"It might seem like a little thing for a guy in Tampa, Fla., to be out of a job for a minute," Montgomery said. "But this has ripple effects for an administration that's really had their way with the press and run roughshod over a lot of people — good people."
Click to shrink...

 

[luvmyhawks]

Lol. Desantis or trump. That’s your top gop candidates folks. Let that ****ing shit sink in for a bit.

 

[lucas80]

Seems like Ron is super woke, and cancelled the reporter.

 

[3 and Out on D]

A news reporter gets fired for reporting facts. Times have changed.

 

[FAUlty Gator]

Lol. Desantis or trump. That’s your top gop candidates folks. Let that ****ing shit sink in for a bit.

Uh, I think you're forgetting about someone.

 

[drew_hawk]

Dear Ben Montgomery,

 

[hawkland14]

So the privately owned media outlet fired a reporter for becoming political and not following journalistic standards and the left thinks DeSantis is to blame?

What an odd obsession the left has with this guy.

 

[tarheelbybirth]

A news reporter gets fired for reporting facts. Times have changed.

He got a substitute teacher fired for doing it. Why not a reporter?

 

[Obviously Oblivious]

So the privately owned media outlet fired a reporter for becoming political and not following journalistic standards and the left thinks DeSantis is to blame?

What an odd obsession the left has with this guy.

So DEI is a scam? Why are you so willing to believe the meatball's spin on this? I'll rely more on a reporter's take of the news release's content over dear governor's lackey because, credibility. Besides, anyone can read the actual release to deduce that it's an opinion, and not factual news.

Explain the obvious "scam" please?