FoxNews.com Alters AP Reports To Read Gov’t ‘Slimdown,’ Not ‘Shutdown’

Screenshot of Foxnews.com homepage on Oct. 1, 2013.
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FoxNews.com altered Associated Press reports it republished Wednesday to replace references to a government shutdown with the word “slimdown.”

FoxNews.com placed the headline “Americans turn to social media to air feelings on slimdown” on one AP story and altered its original lede: “The roiling debate over the U.S. government shutdown is extending to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram as fed-up Americans turn to social media to register their disgust with federal lawmakers for shutting down the government.” The website replaced “shutting down the government” in that sentence with “slimming down the government.” 

The news website also replaced references to a government shutdown with its preferred term in the headlines and ledes of AP stories here and here.

The term “slimdown” appeared in six places on the website’s front page on Tuesday, the first day of the shutdown. 

[h/t Media Matters]

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