AP cannot verify 40 sources from former editor
By Jill Meninger
Staff Reporter

Former Skiff editor Chris Newton quoted at least 40 sources The Associated Press could not verify existed, a spokeswoman for the newsgathering organization said Monday.

Newton, who had covered the Justice Department for the AP, was dismissed Sept. 16 after competing news agencies could not locate a source quoted in a story about crime statistics, the AP reported. The AP said it then found several additional stories quoting people whose existence could not be verified.

“The substance of the story is correct but there seems to be made up people talking about them,” spokeswoman Kelly Smith Tunney said. “Chris never said he made up information, but he could not provide proof they existed. If somebody is supposed to work at Princeton (University), they should be at Princeton.”

Newton could not be reached for comment.

Journalism department chairman Tommy Thomason said the department’s image won’t be tarnished by Newton’s firing.

“I think everybody understands Chris made the decision he did,” Thomason said. “The ironic thing is this department is known for its ethics. It’s not that Chris was not taught ethics. It was just somebody who knows better doing something wrong.”

Newton, a 1996 graduate, was Skiff editor in 1995. He joined the AP in Dallas after he graduated. In 1998, Newton became an AP Lubbock correspondent and in 1999 went to the state-house bureau in Harrisburg, Pa. Newton transferred to Washington as a general assignment reporter in November 2000. Newton began covering the Justice Department in June.

Editor in Chief Brandon Ortiz and Co-Managing Editor Melissa DeLoach contributed to this report.