“When he first started putting himself out there on social media around early 2011, I think that a lot of people really were drawn to him because his way of doing things was so unique at the time,” Mr. Smith said. “The way he handled himself as far as covering a news story: trying to put little pieces together and surfacing videos, surfacing photos, doing everything you could do to give you a much further in-depth level of understanding of what was happening.”
Mr. Keys’ method was characterized by speed and the ability to tweet for what seemed like days without stopping. On a social media supplement (PDF) to his resume posted on his website, he writes that during his coverage of the Japan tsunami, “for two days, I was the number one reporter on YouTube, beating out the Associated Press by hundreds of thousands of impressions.”
I’m quoted in this piece talking about Matt’s case and overall situation. I spoke favorably of him, particularly noting the role he played in our coverage of the Japan earthquake in early 2011. — Ernie @ SFB
This morning, I had a thirty minute phone conversation with an editorial manager at Reuters and a representative of Thomson Reuters human resources. I was told my employment with the company was terminated.
There were several reasons that led Reuters to terminate my employment this morning: [more]
More details on what happened to Matt, directly from the source.
Update on the situation with Matthew Keys, who is facing charges in a case involving Anonymous. Matt, a SFB contributor, faced criticism last week over his reporting of unvetted information on police scanners in relation to the Boston Marathon story, which he defended on Facebook last night. (No reason was given for the firing, but we didn’t work with Matt on the story.) Whatever the case, we wish our friend the best. — Ernie @ SFB
EDIT: Philip Bump offers a roundup on the situation for The Atlantic Wire.
![hallowdmachine:
newsweek:
I hope I live to be XXX. [Link, or, a future 404.]
He was only 30 years old? Wow. Such a shame.
I admire the fact that it’s still online like half an hour later.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/8dac15f3707266712ee47117a3385e24/tumblr_mlh0xiCJ1X1qzs5cqo1_500.png)
I hope I live to be XXX. [Link, or, a future 404.]
He was only 30 years old? Wow. Such a shame.
I admire the fact that it’s still online like half an hour later.
We are aware of the charges brought by the Department of Justice against Matthew Keys, an employee of our news organization. Thomson Reuters is committed to obeying the rules and regulations in every jurisdiction in which it operates. Any legal violations, or failures to comply with the company’s own strict set of principles and standards, can result in disciplinary action. We would also observe the indictment alleges the conduct occurred in December 2010; Mr. Keys joined Reuters in 2012, and while investigations continue we will have no further comment.A statement by Reuters’ corporate affairs manager David Girardin, made to Politico in response to this morning’s news. source
Matthew Keys, a deputy social media editor at Thomson Reuters, has been charged in an indictment for allegedly conspiring with members of the hacker group “Anonymous” to hack into a Tribune Company website, the Justice Department announced today.
Keys, a former web producer for the Tribune Co-owned television station KTXL FOX 40, in Sacramento, Calif., was charged with providing members of the group with log-in credentials for a computer server belonging to the Tribune Co., according to the DoJ’s press release.
In case you’d like to read the indictment, here it is.
Quick statement: Matt’s a good friend, and we’ve worked closely together for a couple of years, bouncing ideas off of one another and the whole bit. I talked to him three hours ago. The rest of the staff had no knowledge of this situation, and we offer no other statement other than to hope that one of our favorite people is OK. Good luck, Matt. — Ernie @ SFB
EDIT: Reworded to clarify.
Video: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Senator Ron Johnson clash over Benghazi consulate attack (via Talking Points Memo)
“With all due respect, we had four dead Americans. Was it because of a protest or was it because of some guys out on a walk one night who decided they’d go kill some Americans? What difference, at this point, does it make? It is our job to figure out what happened and to prevent it from ever happening again, Senator.” Damn, Hill brought her A game.
The State Department made a “grievous mistake” in keeping the U.S. mission in Benghazi open despite inadequate security and increasingly alarming threat assessments in the weeks before a deadly attack by militants, a Senate committee said on Monday.
A report from the Senate Homeland Security Committee on the September 11 attacks on the U.S. mission and a nearby CIA annex, in which the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans died, faulted intelligence agencies for not focusing tightly enough on Libyan extremists.
It also faulted the State Department for waiting for specific warnings instead of improving security.
READ ON: Senate report finds State Dept made “grievous mistake” over Benghazi
What lessons can be applied here that weren’t in Benghazi?
In Massachusetts, good education no longer means higher income, and lower-income residents are falling behind. Above is a graphic from Reuters’ comprehensive in-depth report on the topic, part of its “Unequal State of America” series.
Over the last 90 days, the Digg...
#FMMDI (at 30 Rockefeller Plaza)
Thanks. I guess my thoughts are as follows:
1. I think...
Two Months Ago I set out to interview the principal cast...
This guy’s name is Gen. Keith...
“I love the one non-NSA story that made it on the...
Two BP Plc employees face criminal indictments for their part in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, and charges could be unveiled as early as Thursday, a source told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
London-based BP is expected to pay a record U.S. criminal penalty and plead guilty to criminal misconduct in the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon platform in the Gulf of Mexico, which caused the worst offshore oil spill in the country’s history, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The sources told Reuters that a plea deal with the Justice Department over the 2010 disaster, in which 11 workers died, may be announced as soon as Thursday.
READ ON: BP workers face criminal charges from 2010 spill - source
Will be interesting to see if anyone goes to jail over this.
![reuters:
The full moon rises through the Olympic Rings hanging beneath Tower Bridge during the London 2012 Olympic Games August 3, 2012. [REUTERS/Luke MacGregor]
MORE PHOTOS: Full moon rises at Tower Bridge
For fans of serendipity.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m87lewdBU61qmaoalo1_500.jpg)
The full moon rises through the Olympic Rings hanging beneath Tower Bridge during the London 2012 Olympic Games August 3, 2012. [REUTERS/Luke MacGregor]
MORE PHOTOS: Full moon rises at Tower Bridge
For fans of serendipity.
*THIS IMAGE IS NOT REAL*
Here’s a screenshot of the post allegedly put on Reuters’ site by hackers, a post that openly suggests Syrian rebels had pulled out of Aleppo. Reuters said they were compromised “and fabricated blog posts were falsely attributed to several Reuters journalists.” All in all, a scary incident for a trusted source.
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