Oregon Journalism Project retracts story about alleged political candidate "deepfake"
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Nafisa Fai. Photo: Courtesy of candidate's campaign
The Oregon Journalism Project retracted a story Tuesday that claimed a viral video of Washington County commissioner and chair candidate Nafisa Fai speaking in front of an upside-down American flag had been digitally manipulated.
- Axios Portland also retracted our version of the story, which was primarily based on OJP's reporting.
Why it matters: The article's deletion raises questions about the authenticity of footage supplied to OJP and highlights the challenges of determining what's real in the era of AI.
- The now-deleted OJP article featured a screenshot of Fai with the flag right side up. It said the image was provided by the candidate, which OJP later told Axios was incorrectly credited and was actually "from a supporter known to her."
Zoom in: OJP's Oct.19 story called the viral footage a "deepfake," but people soon questioned the conflicting images on social media.
- The outlet retracted the story a day later, saying it "obtained new images that showed the flag at the Minneapolis event had in fact been upside down."
- The retraction statement doesn't explain how OJP verified any of the images.
- Fai told Axios Tuesday that neither she nor her campaign supplied the image showing the right side up flag.
"The Oregon Journalism Project takes requests for corrections very seriously," per a statement OJP provided to Axios. "Upon learning that there might be problems with the story, we acted immediately."
Catch up quick: The 26-second viral clip shows Fai, a Somali immigrant, speaking in Somali at an event in Minnesota on Oct. 10 with an upside down American flag behind her.
- On Oct. 15, the conservative social media account End Wokeness shared the clip with its nearly 4 million X followers, prompting outrage and calls for Fai's deportation.
- Fai told OJP she didn't remember checking the flag's orientation and said she'd never deliberately display it upside down.
- The OJP reported that "a clip from the event" was provided to them that showed the flag right side up. OJP's article didn't say who provided that clip but the retraction note says it was a "Fai campaign supporter."
- The original article also cited Hoodo Mohamed, a campaign supporter who OJP reported attended the event and said the flag was correctly displayed.
What they're saying: Fai told Axios Tuesday she never claimed the viral video was doctored and maintains she didn't know whether the flag was upside down or upright when she spoke at an event at Minneapolis restaurant Martiya.
- She said her campaign is working to obtain any original, unedited footage to determine what happened.
- "I wanted to take full responsibility if I made the mistake of standing in front of a flag that I didn't check and own it," she said.
- Fai also said she contacted OJP reporter Penny Rosenberg after the story was published to dispute being credited with providing the right side up image.
OJP said in a statement that "none of the editors at OJP are aware of any concerns about the article from Fai after it was published."
Of note: Fai posted a screenshot of OJP's article on Oct. 19, showing the right side up flag image credited to her, to her social media accounts. Posts on Instagram and X were still live as of Tuesday night.