Yet another ethics flap ensnares AP

WASHINGTON – The Associated Press has claimed as its own an exclusive story posted on an independent Internet newssite four days before AP's version was written.

The Washington-based author of the AP report on Monday cited an Immigration and Naturalization Service memo as the source of her story, headlined, "Justice Department orders fingerprinting of male visitors from Saudi Arabia."

"An Immigration and Naturalization Service memorandum obtained by the Associated Press directs immigration inspectors registering aliens to include men, ages 16 to 45, from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Yemen, starting Oct. 1," wrote Suzanne Gamboa, who covers the INS beat for AP out of its D.C. bureau.

But Gamboa Thursday received a copy of the confidential Justice memo via an exclusive WorldNetDaily.com article published that day (Sept. 19) on the expanded registration policy, which included hotlinks to the four-page memo originally obtained by the newssite.

WND's Washington bureau chief e-mailed Gamboa the story and memo Sept. 19 at 4:54 p.m. Eastern, assuming that if she used the information it would be credited properly.

It was not. Nowhere in her story is WND credited, even though the information in AP's story is virtually identical to that in WND's copyrighted article.

As a result, the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, New York Newsday, Miami Herald and scores of other newspapers across the country have credited AP with a WorldNetDaily scoop.

WND Editor Joseph Farah Tuesday asked AP's assistant Washington bureau chief Terry Hunt to investigate the matter.

"This is very interesting," Hunt told Farah. "I will look into it."

Hunt failed to get back to Farah with the results of his investigation.

Farah then asked AP Washington bureau chief Sandy Johnson to correct the record by sending out an AP advisory stating that the INS memo cited by AP was first posted by WND in a Sept. 19 exclusive, copyrighted story.

"I understand you spoke with Terry Hunt about this matter," Johnson replied. "I don't wish to discuss it further."

Curiously, Gamboa quoted just one sentence from the four-page memo, which appeared in small type in WND's links. And AP did not upload the memo onto its own site, as it has other documents.

What's more, Attorney General John Ashcroft's chief of staff, David T. Ayres, says in a confidential two-page letter also obtained by WND that a high-level Saudi official brought printouts of WND's posted memo into a meeting Sept. 20, the day after WND published the memo. Ayres cites "documents from the Internet," not an AP story, which didn't run until Sept. 23.

Ethical lapses seem to be dogging AP lately.

The the 150-year-old American newswire earlier this month had to fire another Justice Department reporter for making up quotations and sources in his stories.

AP is still investigating the hundreds of stories written by reporter Christopher Newton for the rampant fraud. Phony quotes and experts went undetected by AP editors for years.

While AP stiffed WND, Agence France-Presse credited the newssite in its Sept. 24 story regarding the memo.

It's not the first time the Old Media elite have poached a WND story, although in at least two recent cases, the offending publications apologized for the unethical conduct and corrected the record.

The New Republic last year ripped off WND's multipart expose on Labor Secretary Elaine Chao's ties to Beijing and the corrupt Lippo Group, and the role she played in softening the Heritage Foundation's hawkish stance on China and helping cultivate mainland donors for the conservative think tank.

"The contretemps involves a New Republic piece by John Judis on how some conservatives had softened their opposition to China, and in particular the role played by Labor Secretary Elaine Chao," reported Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz. "Trouble is, the article failed to mention that some of the material had previously been reported by WorldNetDaily.com."

Called on it, New Republic Editor Peter Beinart, who last Sunday served as a roundtable analyst for ABC's "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos, eventually expressed regret and ran a correction crediting WND.

The Washington Post itself had to run a correction in 2000 crediting WND after its top national security writer tried to recyle another WND exclusive as his own.

WorldNetDaily.com, a fully credentialed member of the Senate Press Gallery and an active member of the National Press Club, is the leading independently owned newssite on the Web, attracting more than 2.5 million unique visitors each month.

WND Scoops

Previous stories:

Saudi Arabia 'shocked' to be added to watch list

INS to vet Indonesia, Malaysia travelers

U.S. gets tough with Paki, Saudi visitors