AP admits widely panned story on Harvard plagiarism didn't meet standards

The Associated Press updated a headline on Wednesday that deemed plagiarism a "new conservative weapon," following widespread backlash to the post on X, admitting the story did not meet the outlet's standards.

"The story doesn’t meet our standards," Lauren Easton, the VP of AP Corporate Communications, told Fox News Digital. She said they were in the process of updating the headline.

The AP's original headline read, "Harvard president’s resignation highlights new conservative weapon against colleges: plagiarism," which was widely mocked on social media, after Harvard President Claudine Gay announced she would be resigning from the position on Tuesday. 

"Plagiarism charges downed Harvard’s president. A conservative attack helped to fan the outrage," the AP's new headline reads. 

The Associated Press updated its headline on a story about Claudine Gay's resignation on Wednesday.  (Chan Long Hei/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

WHO IS INTERIM HARVARD PRESIDENT ALAN M. GARBER?

"American higher education has long viewed plagiarism as among the most serious of offenses. Accusations of plagiarism have ruined the careers of academics and undergraduates alike," the AP's updated lede reads.

Gay resigned following several allegations of plagiarism on Tuesday, and claimed any attacks against her were fueled by "racial animus" in a letter announcing her decision.

"My deep sense of connection to Harvard and its people has made it all the more painful to witness the tensions and divisions that have riven our community in recent months, weakening the bonds of trust and reciprocity that should be our sources of strength and support in times of crisis. Amidst all of this, it has been distressing to have doubt cast on my commitments to confronting hate and to upholding scholarly rigor—two bedrock values that are fundamental to who I am—and frightening to be subjected to personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus," she wrote.

Gay also faced widespread criticism over her response to a question at a congressional hearing about whether calls for the genocide of Jews violated Harvard's code of conduct. Gay initially said it depended on the "context," before issuing an apology. 

The Associated Press published a headline on Wednesday that suggested "plagiarism" was a weapon for conservatives after Harvard president Claudine Gay resigned on Tuesday. (Left:  (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images), Circle: (Photo Illustration by Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images))

HARVARD BOARD STANDS BY EMBATTLED PRESIDENT CLAUDINE GAY, ADMITS ‘INADEQUATE CITATION’ IN SOME WRITINGS

"Reviews by conservative activists and then by a Harvard committee did find multiple shortcomings in Gay’s academic citations. In dozens of instances first published by The Washington Free Beacon, a conservative website, Gay’s work includes long stretches of prose that mirror language from other published works," the AP's original piece said. 

A paragraph placed high-up in the updated version read, "Reviews by Harvard found multiple shortcomings in Gay’s academic citations, including several instances of "duplicative language." While the university concluded the errors ‘were not considered intentional or reckless' and didn’t rise to misconduct, the allegations continued, with new ones as recently as Monday."

The updated report included a paragraph pinning the original allegations to "conservative activists," and cited the Washington Free Becaon's report on the allegations.

Some took issue with the AP's definition of "scalping" in the original report, which called out Christopher Rufo, who wrote "scalped" on social media after Gay announced her resignation. 

The original report read,"As if Gay was a trophy of violence, invoking a gruesome practice taken up by white colonists who sought to eradicate Native Americans." 

"On X, formerly Twitter, he wrote "SCALPED," as if Gay was a trophy of violence, invoking a gruesome practice taken up by white colonists who sought to eradicate Native Americans and also used by some tribes against their enemies," the updated version read. 

CNN political commentator Scott Jennings mocked the original AP headline and wrote that it was "remarkable" conservatives "had the time to invent the concept of plagiarism over the last couple months."

People walk through the gate on Harvard Yard at the Harvard University campus on June 29, 2023 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.(Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images) (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle said the AP "buried the lede" and added, "the GOP stole this weapon from colleges, which for years punished people for plagiarism with little to no input from conservatives."

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., wondered what the AP would have published if Gay was "a male, Asian, white, outspoken Christian, or Republican."

Hanna Panreck is an associate editor at Fox News.