(Liberty Bell) – Axios has dropped the proverbial ax on journalist Ben Montgomery after he made a comment concerning a roundtable event being hosted by conservative powerhouse Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Florida Republican, calling it “propaganda.” Well, I guess he learned a lesson the hard way, didn’t he? He probably deserved to be fired a long, long time ago. Perhaps he has finally reaped from the crop he sowed?
“This reporter is no longer with Axios. Out of respect for our employees, we do not discuss conditions of departure,” Axios editor-in-chief Sara Kehaulani Goo said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“Montgomery was in the news this week after Florida Department of Education communications director Alex Lanfranconi revealed how the Tampa Bay reporter responded to an emailed press release regarding a roundtable discussion on ‘divisive concepts such as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, Critical Race Theory (CRT) and the impact that these concepts have had on Florida higher education institutions and the students that attend them,'” Fox News Digital reported.
Montgomery fired back that “this was propaganda, not a press release.”
This afternoon, Tampa based @axios journalist @gangrey decided to respond to our press release with the below. pic.twitter.com/XkL5nBwZSs
— Alex Lanfranconi (@AlexLanfran) March 13, 2023
“Lanfranconi shared a screenshot of the response on social media, prompting the liberal reporter to face swift backlash from the right. But it seems backlash on Twitter isn’t the only thing Montgomery had to deal with as a result of his actions,” the article divulged.
Charlotte Klein, a reporter for Vanity Fair, first posted a tweet revealing the news publication fired Montgomery on Monday concerning the incident. Montgomery then confirmed the news publicly and appeared to crack a joke about the whole situation.
“Some personal news: I made crepes this morning for the first time in years. Strawberry compote and whipped cream. They were delicious,” Montgomery wrote as a caption to Klein’s tweet that he was handed his pink slip.
Some personal news: I made crepes this morning for the first time in years. Strawberry compote and whipped cream. They were delicious. https://t.co/1rG4idEZsr
— Ben Montgomery (@gangrey) March 15, 2023
Montgomery spoke with Fox News Digital, saying that he didn’t slam the press release due to partisan politics — yeah, okay, sure you didn’t — but because he felt that it didn’t have proper context.
“It just wasted my time,” Montgomery went on to say in his statement to Fox News Digital, going on to add he doesn’t regret sending the email because his teenage daughters were proud of him. Congratulations, Montgomery. You’re raising little commies. Fantastic parenting.
“That’s really all that matters,” he continued.
After getting booted, Montgomery did admit he probably could have worded his issues with the press release a bit better.
“I regret being so short,” he explained. “In the style of Axios, I used smart brevity and it cost me.”
So why did Axios fire him for the email? It is believed that his response to the press release violated the company’s Editorial Ethics Policy, which states that all staffers must “maintain professionalism with all sources” and “respect and be civil to all people we have contact with.”
“The press release for the event mocked by Montgomery described several guests such as Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz, Jr. and school choice advocate Christopher Rufo discussing the impact of DEI initiatives on education and the damage they cause students,” the Fox News article noted.
“These concepts are in no way inclusive, and instead force exclusion and division within higher education, and do not in any way contribute to learning or knowledge; as such, no funding from hardworking, tax-paying Floridians, including the parents of higher-education students, should be spent on these divisive initiatives,” the press release stated.
Copyright 2023. LibertyBell.com
