New York Post reporter Laura Italiano resigned following a story she claimed she was “ordered to write” about migrant children allegedly receiving copies of Vice President Kamala Harris’ children’s book at a shelter in Long Beach, Calif.
“An announcement: Today I handed in my resignation to my editors at the New York Post,” Italiano tweeted on Tuesday.
She added, “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. 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.”
An announcement: Today I handed in my resignation to my editors at the New York Post.
— 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
The publication ran the story on its front page with the headline: “Kam On In,” as a fact check from The Washington Post notes.
The fact check explains the story featured a photo of Harris’ book leaning against a backpack “along with a story falsely claiming, ‘Unaccompanied migrant kids brought from the U.S.-Mexico border to a new shelter in Long Beach, Calif., will be given a copy of her 2019 children’s book, ‘Superheroes are Everywhere,’ in their welcome kits.”
It continued, “The New York Post article had no attribution for the claim that Harris’s book was being distributed in welcome kits.”
The New York Post temporarily deleted, edited, and republished the article 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 donated to a child.”
The original story was shared by several Republican elected officials, as CNN reports.