Montana Copy Editor Disciplined For 'Obama Was Allegedly Born In Hawaii' Edit To AP Story

A copy editor at the Helena Independent Record has been disciplined after adding the word "allegedly" to a sentence in an Associated Press story that originally read, “Obama was born in Hawaii.”

Some readers called the paper out in letters to the editor on Sunday. Tom Laceky, a retired AP staffer who worked in the Helena bureau for 28 years, wrote: "That right-wing notion has been so thoroughly discredited that only Donald Trump and assorted other loonies still cling to it. Neither the AP nor -I hope - The Independent Record belongs in their company."

The newspaper spoke out about what it called "an error in judgement" in an editor's note, writing, "It was a poor attempt at humor and a poor decision, but was not intended to be printed in the paper. Those responsible have been disciplined."

(h/t Jim Romenesko)