The last incident before the one in October took place on February 3, 2006. An official with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) asked a question during a conference in San Antonio, Texas. This is from an investigation by Homeland Security. The official with ICE was female and stood with twelve other reporters. But, she did not identify herself.
But, the main difference was that the ICE official was advised against asking the question. The reporters knew she was a public affairs official at that time.
During the fake conference on October 23 about the fires in California, no genuine journalists had asked. They were given a conference call number for they could listen in. However, they could only listen but not be able to ask questions. The questions were asked by FEMA members posing as reporters.
The briefing was criticized. One of the biggest critics was the head of Homeland Security. It is said that reforms are underway to change FEMA’s external affairs. So far, two top public officials with FEMA have resigned after the incident of the fake news conference.
However, it shows that this isn’t the first time there has been a fake press conference.
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