14 DAY TRIAL // Reuters has fired Matthew Keys, the deputy social media editor accused of conspiring with Anonymous hackers in the attacks against the Tribune Company and the Los Angeles Times. However, the media giant has told him that the termination has nothing to do with the indictment.
Keys broke the news on Twitter, shortly after receiving a phone call from a Reuters editorial manager and a Thomson Reuters human resources representative.
In a blog post that he published a few hours ago, Keys revealed the official reasons for which he was let go.
“Reuters claims that during my coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings, I violated a grievance aired by the company in a written warning issued in October 2012, explicitly that the company ‘must see immediate improvement in your communication with managers and more discretion in your social media practices’,” Keys wrote.
“Reuters said it had a problem with the perceived relationship between my Twitter account and their news organization. A Reuters manager said it was troublesome that several people associated my work on Twitter with the company, pointing to my Twitter bio that said I was a Reuters journalist,” he added.
Reuters is also unhappy with the fact that during the manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombers, he kept tweeting information from police scanners even after law enforcement had asked the media to stop.
Keys says he was unaware of the law enforcement request.
“I’ve stated before I was unaware of several media reports sourcing law enforcement regarding scanner traffic. As soon as I learned about the reports, I erred on the side of caution and stopped tweeting information heard over the scanner,” he said.
While Reuters hasn’t mentioned anything about the indictment against Keys during the phone call, the journalist says there might be a connection.
“While my suspension was related to the indictment, it’s unclear if my firing had anything to do with it. The company mentioned the suspension several times, but they did not mention the case nor did they mention the indictment,” he noted.
The union representing Keys will file a grievance on the basis that Reuters doesn’t have sufficient cause to fire him.