The error sparked a widely circulated but inaccurate news alert suggesting Russia was responsible for the incident thus escalating the war in Ukraine, Poland’s PAP news agency reported on Wednesday.
“The national security reporter, James LaPorta, was dismissed after being deemed primarily responsible for a November 15 news bulletin that erroneously said Russian missiles had carried out the strike,” the Associated Press wrote on its website on Tuesday.
The news agency said it was reviewing its standards on the use of anonymous sourcing following an “egregious mistake” in the Poland story.
Julie Pace, senior vice president and executive editor of the AP, said: “We take our standards very seriously. If we don’t live up to our standards, we don’t have any choice but to take action. Trust in the AP and trust in our report is paramount."
Two Polish citizens died when "a Russia-made missile" caused an explosion outside the southeastern Polish village of Przewodów, about 6 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, at around 3:40 p.m. on Tuesday, November 15, according to a statement by the Polish foreign ministry.
Poland and other Western states have said it was a Ukrainian air defence missile that went astray in pursuit of a Russian rocket.
In an op-ed piece published by Polish tabloid Super Express on Tuesday, Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wrote that his country "was not directly attacked," according to findings by Polish and allied experts, with intelligence data showing that "it was a tragic accident."
Morawiecki also wrote in his piece that "Ukrainian air defense missiles fell on Polish soil" because "the technology failed," although he said the exact causes of the incident "are still being clarified."
However, the initial AP alert, distributed to thousands of news outlets across the world, suggested a dire new escalation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A Russian attack on NATO member Poland’s territory might have provoked a military response under the alliance’s mutual self-defense provisions, according to experts.
A day later, the AP replaced its story citing an unnamed US official with a correction note.
“The error ascribing blame to Russia was particularly damaging because of the danger involved given NATO’s commitment to respond to an attack on a member country,” the AP wrote on its website.
The AP "is believed to be the first news organization outside of Polish media to report on the strike itself last week,” the agency added.
(mo/gs)