Who is Laura Italiano? NY Post journalist resigns over 'incorrect story' on Kamala Harris, says was 'ordered'
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: A New York Post journalist resigned on Tuesday after a false story about books by Vice President Kamala Harris being handed out to migrant children went viral on social media. In a series of tweets, Laura Italiano, a long-time NY Post reporter, submitted her resignation to the editors, alleging that she was “ordered” to write the story and that it was her “breaking point.”
“An announcement: Today I handed in my resignation to my editors at the New York Post. 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,” Italiano wrote.
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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.
— Laura Italiano (@Italiano_Laura) April 27, 2021
But who is Laura Italiano and how long she has been a part of the NY Post team? Let’s dig a little deeper and know more about her.
Who is Laura Italiano?
There is not much information available about Italiano, but according to her LinkedIn profile, she has been working with NY Post for a long time now and has written a variety of stories for the publication. However, NY Post is not the only big media outlet she has worked for over the years. According to her profile on Muck Rack, Italiano has written for big media organizations like FOX News, The Sun, News.com.au, Page Six, The Daily Telegraph, The Herald Sun, and more.
Apart from working as a full-time journalist, Italiano is also the founder of ‘PERP! The Criminal Musical’, an NYC-based effort to skewer Big Media and Big Crime via original show tunes and too many very bad puns. According to its official website, PERP! is the “brainchild” of the former NY Post editor. It is a “full-length book musical for six actors, and is currently under development, with Laura writing the book, music, and lyrics.”
Her official Twitter profile states that she is a resident of Manhattan, New York. She has not been very active on social media. In fact, the tweets that she did for announcing her resignation were the first time she used the micro-blogging platform to convey her thoughts.
In one of her tweets, she also wrote that it was a “privilege” to cover New York City for the publication and it is really a “sad” moment for her that she is leaving the renowned outlet.
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
How did Italiano’s story turn out to be fake?
On Friday, March 23, NY Post published an article claiming that federal officials were distributing Harris’s book ‘Superheroes Are Everywhere’ “in welcome kits” to migrant children who were being held in a temporary immigration facility at the Long Beach convention center in Southern California.
However, The Washington Post did a quick fact-checking story on the piece and revealed that the facility only had one book, which was donated as part of a book and toy drive for migrant children. Citing a Long Beach city spokesperson, The Washington Post noted that the book was not purchased by US Department of Health and Human Services or the city.
“The book you reference is one of the hundreds of books that have already been donated. The book was not purchased by HHS or the City,” Kevin Lee, city spokesperson, told The Washington Post.
Since then, the original story has been removed by the New York Post. However, a heavily edited version of the article, titled 'Kamala isn’t at the southern border — but at least one migrant kid got Veep’s book', made its way to the Post’s website on Tuesday, with an editor’s note attached to it.