Katie Zacharia Leaves White House Press Secretary Role After Less Than a Week
publishers 34articles 35first reported 15 Oct, 01:00 UTCdeveloping since 15 Oct · 17 editions
Katie Zacharia is leaving her role as White House press secretary less than a week after taking the job, following scrutiny of her professional credentials and criticism of her first briefing.
A White House official confirmed Zacharia’s departure to AFP on Friday, according to The Punch. The Telegraph described her departure as a dismissal, while the Taipei Times cited a person familiar with the matter who said she was departing.
President Donald Trump had publicly cast doubt on Zacharia’s future earlier Friday. He told reporters that he had urged her to reconsider whether she wanted the job, while saying she had been treated unfairly by the media. Trump initially said he expected to discuss the matter with her after weekend travel.
Zacharia’s first and only White House briefing took place Tuesday. It lasted about 14 minutes, and she answered questions from three reporters. She later said she kept it short to leave time for Trump to speak with reporters and had not been fully briefed beforehand.
Questions also arose over Zacharia’s previous descriptions of herself as a lawyer. She has a law degree but acknowledged that she failed the bar exam and did not retake it, meaning she was not credentialed to practice law. Zacharia had succeeded Karoline Leavitt after Trump announced her appointment on Oct. 9.
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 5 articles, 2 with the publisher's own text; 5 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 60 h after the record first saw the story; the editor revised it.
- Publishers
- 34
- Source articles
- 35
- Given to the writer
- 5, 2 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
- 5
- This version written
- 60 h after the record first saw the story
- Second model (editor)
- revised
- Publication gate
- passed
- Human review
- none
WHAT THE EDITOR DID
The second model checked the writer's draft against the same sources and changed it before publication. Struck words were in the draft; underlined words are its corrections.
WHAT IT FLAGGED editor revise: Remove the misleading direct attribution of the phrase “transitioning out” to the White House official. - "A White House official confirmed to AFP on Friday that Zacharia, 41, was “transitioning out,” according to The Punch.": The Punch says the official told AFP only “Can confirm”; “transitioning out” came from the Fox News report the official was confirming, not as a direct quote from the official.
THE DRAFT AND THE CHANGES
Katie Zacharia Leaves White House Press Secretary Role After Less Than a Week
Katie Zacharia is leaving her role as White House press secretary less than a week after taking the job, following scrutiny of her professional credentials and criticism of her first briefing.
A White House official confirmed Zacharia’s departure to AFP on Friday that Zacharia, 41, was “transitioning out,”Friday, according to The Punch. The Telegraph described her departure as a dismissal, while the Taipei Times cited a person familiar with the matter who said she was departing.
President Donald Trump had publicly cast doubt on Zacharia’s future earlier Friday. He told reporters that he had urged her to reconsider whether she wanted the job, while saying she had been treated unfairly by the media. Trump initially said he expected to discuss the matter with her after weekend travel.
Zacharia’s first and only White House briefing took place Tuesday. It lasted about 14 minutes, and she answered questions from three reporters. She later said she kept it short to leave time for Trump to speak with reporters and had not been fully briefed beforehand.
Questions also arose over Zacharia’s previous descriptions of herself as a lawyer. She has a law degree but acknowledged that she failed the bar exam and did not retake it, meaning she was not credentialed to practice law. Zacharia had succeeded Karoline Leavitt after Trump announced her appointment on Oct. 9.
Written by a language model from the sources above, then checked by a second model that may only cut, attribute or correct. How it works →