Alleged L.A. Times Hacker Fired By Reuters

Alleged L.A. Times Hacker Fired By Reuters

Matthew Keys, deputy social media editor at Reuters, was fired by the news agency Monday.

Reuters hired Keys in 2012 but suspended the editor in March after federal prosecutors accused the 26-year-old of conspiring with the hacker group Anonymous to deface a December 2010 article posted by the Los Angeles Times online. The Times is owned by the Tribune Co. and Keys had just been fired by Tribune-owned television station KTXL in Sacramento, California.  

Using his Twitter account, Keys said the Reuters firing had nothing to do with federal charges. It was “because I violated my final written warning,” he wrote. The tweet includes a link to what Keys  claims was the written warning where he is reprimanded for creating a parody Twitter account to mock a Google executive.

Keys went into more detail with Politico, claiming Reuters was unhappy with him using his personal Twitter account last week to cover the Boston Marathon bombings. According to Politico, his coverage included incorrect information coming from police scanners.

Via Twitter Keys disputes he did anything wrong and writes that he intends to file a grievance with the union.

 

Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC               

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