Newsweek takes more disciplinary measures over botched Thanksgiving story on President Trump

Newsweek has taken additional disciplinary measures after the news outlet botched its story reporting President Donald Trump's Thanksgiving plans.

Days after Newsweek fired the reporter, Jessica Kwong, behind a story claiming the president would spend Thanksgiving by tweeting and golfing — when in reality Trump spent Thanksgiving with American troops stationed in Afghanistan — Newsweek has demoted the editor in charge of the story.

In a statement provided to iMediaEthics, a representative for Newsweek said:

Newsweek investigated the failures that led to the publication of the inaccurate report that President Trump spent Thanksgiving tweeting and golfing rather than visiting troops in Afghanistan. The story has been corrected, the reporter responsible was terminated and the editor was demoted. We will continue to review our processes and, if required, take further action.

From the start of her tenure as editor in chief of Newsweek, Nancy Cooper has moved the newsroom toward strong reporting, such as the scoop on Baghdadi's killing, and away from knee-jerk political snarkiness. This story did not meet the standards she has set.

After losing her job, Kwong told the Washington Examiner that she was not fully responsible for the journalism blunder.

Kwong told the Examiner that she was assigned to write about Trump's Thanksgiving plans about a week before the holiday. She filed her story the day before Thanksgiving, and when learning that her story was incorrect because the president was actually making a surprise trip to Afghanistan, Kwong said she informed her editor of the update.

However, Kwong said her editor delayed updating her story, instead assigning another reporter to write about Trump's Afghanistan trip. Kwong's story was only updated hours after Trump's trip became public.

The botched story led to Trump mocking Newsweek on social media.