(Credit: SCcreenshot, Twitter)
The Daily Beast wrongly reported today that Mitt Romney was going to announce his candidacy for president.
In fact, the opposite happened: Romney came forward today to say he wouldn’t run in 2016. “I’ve decided it is best to give other leaders in the Party the opportunity to become our next nominee,” Romney tweeted this morning.
I’ve decided it is best to give other leaders in the Party the opportunity to become our next nominee https://t.co/56pcErahDB
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) January 30, 2015
Read the full text of Romney’s statement.
The Daily Beast had reported this morning: “Exclusive: Romney Running for President.”
The Daily Beast story was based on anonymous “sources,” The Washington Post reported, and cited “a memo sent by Romney to his inner circle Thursday,” although it didn’t say if the Daily Beast actually saw the memo.
Today’s #FAIL. RT @thedailybeast: EXCLUSIVE: ROMNEY RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT http://t.co/5mE5gH4kJe pic.twitter.com/c94yxlrztJ
— Rui Kaneya (@ruikaneya) January 30, 2015
In addition to its story, the Daily Beast published several tweets about its now-known-to-be-false claims.
Another reason Mitt’s running: Jeb is a joke in Romneyland http://t.co/OWH9676jMi
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) January 30, 2015
EXCLUSIVE: ROMNEY RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT http://t.co/Sas0OA8klG pic.twitter.com/Qk4eiRj8RL
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) January 30, 2015
NEW: Romney at 11AM will tell donors of his intention to explore another presidential run. http://t.co/AIpcIYOUqQ
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) January 30, 2015
NEW: Romney at 11AM will tell donors of his intention to explore another presidential run. http://t.co/AIpcIYOUqQ
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) January 30, 2015
After Romney’s announcement, the Daily Beast quickly changed its headline to report the real news.
The new headline reads “Mitt Romney Will Not Run for President.”
The story acknowledged that The Daily Beast earlier reported wrongly. “That’s contrary to an earlier report published in The Daily Beast, which relied on multiple sources close to Romney indicating that the former Massachusetts governor was about to launch a third campaign for the White House,” the Daily Beast reported.
The Daily Beast’s executive editor Noah Shachtman told Washington Post reporter Erik Wemple that it got its information from “multiple sources close to the Romney camp,” but admitted “The bottom line was, we made the wrong call.”
Shachtman also tweeted about the error, Fishbowl NY reported. He tweeted:
@davidfolkenflik @thedailybeast Simple: We had what we thought were strong sources saying Romney was in. They were wrong. But it’s on us.
— Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) January 30, 2015
The Daily Beat also tweeted a correction to its 761,000 followers, saying, “We got it wrong. Mitt Romney is not running for President.”
We got it wrong. Mitt Romney is not running for President. http://t.co/se9pQApY5X
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) January 30, 2015
iMediaEthics is writing to The Daily Beast for comment.
Bloomberg News has since corrected its reporting after it based a story on The Daily Beast’s erroneous scoop.
“Correction: This story was based on an article from The Daily Beast, which contained inaccurate information. A statement released by Mitt Romney today clearly states he is not exploring a 2016 presidential bid.”
