USA Today Deletes 23 Articles Following Investigation Into Alleged Fabrication By Reporter

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USA Today deleted 23 articles following an investigation into alleged fabrication by a reporter, the New York Times reported Thursday.

Gabriela Miranda, a breaking news reporter, was accused of the fabrication, according to the Times. The last article on her page on the USA Today website is from April 17, and her Twitter account has been deactivated.

“The internal investigation, which took place over a period of several weeks, began after USA Today received an inquiry related to the veracity of details in an article by Gabriela Miranda,” wrote Times media reporters Ben Mullin and Katie Robertson.

They added that Miranda resigned from USA Today in recent weeks, as the investigation progressed.

The Times also reported that Miranda allegedly meddled in the investigation into her conduct:

During the investigation, USA Today concluded that Ms. Miranda took steps to deceive investigators by producing false evidence of her newsgathering, including recordings of interviews, one of the people said.

Read the full Times report here.

After the Times report was published, USA Today published a note on its website:

After receiving an external correction request, USA TODAY audited the reporting work of Gabriela Miranda. The audit revealed that some individuals quoted were not affiliated with the organizations claimed and appeared to be fabricated. The existence of other individuals quoted could not be independently verified. In addition, some stories included quotes that should have been credited to others.

As a result, USA TODAY removed 23 articles from its website and other platforms for not meeting our editorial standards. The headlines of the articles are listed below. Miranda has resigned as a reporter for USA TODAY and the USA TODAY NETWORK.

We strive to be accurate and factual in all our content and regret this situation. We will continue to reinforce and strengthen our reporting and editing diligence and processes by:

• Improve our process for those who want to lodge complaints or request corrections.

• Ensure stories have clear and sufficient identifying information for individuals quoted.

• Ensure that reporters take appropriate steps at all times to verify source information.

• Ensure that institutions are contacted to provide a response or statement if they are referenced in the story.

• Apply additional scrutiny to sources found through blind connections on social media platforms, via email, etc.

• Reinforce our standards for crediting other outlets for their work.

The note went on to list the articles that were allegedly fabricated with their headlines and hyperlinks. The articles have been replaced with a simple editor’s note that reads, “This story has been removed from our platforms because it does not meet our standards.”