Newsweek reporter Jessica Kwong wrote this “news report” before she had actual information. It was literally a fiction story.

After publishing the above story, the reporter sent out this Tweet:

In the real world, Trump flew to Afghanistan and spent Thanksgiving with U.S. military forces. Kwong’s story was pre-written in advance – literally a work of fiction.

Having been caught writing a fictional (fake) news report, she responded by saying making up a news story in Newsweek is an “honest mistake”.

The original fiction story was completely rewritten.

This story has been substantially updated and edited at 6:17 pm EST to reflect the president’s surprise trip to Afghanistan. Additional reporting by James Crowley.

Update: The (almost) original now appears to be in the archive.

Newsweek is an online, social media-based, for profit, purveyor of fictional news with a history.

The way to respond to accusations of fictional news reporting is to double down on accuracy, objectivity and remaining calm. Unfortunately, the news industry continues to harm itself through self destructive behavior typical of middle school drama, such as this fiasco from the NY Times.

Update: Newsweek fired Jessica Kwong.