Utah Paper Propagates Antigua Online Casino Inaccuracies

Unfortunately, online gambling news sources took her story at its word and ran with it, assuming fact checking had been done.

A factual inaccuracy in an article in the Salt Lake Tribune has led to widespread rumors around the Internet regarding a secret deal between the US and Antigua and Barbuda. Reporter Cathy Mckitrick wrote on December 26th that the two countries had reached a settlement on damages due Antigua for the US blockage of online casinos, but no such settlement exists.

Mckitrick asserted that the deal was unannounced because the terms were considered by the US to be a matter of national security. Several casino industry news sites reported the settlement based on Mckitrick's story, and the Salt Lake Tribune published an editorial on January 5th that continued to rely on the statements in the original story.

However, Online Casino Advisory representatives had tried to research the rumored agreement, and could find no verification. Upon contacting the Tribune reporter and inquiring into her sources, OCA was referred to information over a year old, concerning a deal reached between the US and the European Union. Antigua was not a subject in the sources provided, and the facts reported in the article would have been accurate if applied to the EU.

This was brought to Mckitrick's attention, but no retraction nor correction was forthcoming. Instead, as noted about the editorial, the Tribune continued to act as if the initial story had been flawless. Meanwhile, as reports continued to wind around the Internet, the Antigua Sun wrote about the possibility of an undisclosed deal.

Mark Mendel, the lead attorney for Antigua in its pursuit to collect the damages awarded by the World Trade Organization, told the Sun there is no settlement at this time, and that he distrusted the source of such rumors.

A statement by Peter Riggs, director of the Forum on Democracy and Trade, was quoted in Mckitrick's article, implying that Riggs had claimed Antigua had made a secret deal. But, upon careful reading, Riggs never mentions Antigua in the quoted passage, and his remarks could easily apply to the European Union agreement. It is only the placement by Mckitrick that indicates Antigua is the subject of Riggs' statement.

After exchanging several e-mails with Mckitrick, it is clear that she was not properly informed on the background for her article. Unfortunately, online gambling news sources took her story at its word and ran with it, assuming fact checking had been done. Also unfortunately, the Tribune has not seen fit to correct its mistake, causing international coverage of a non-existent event.

Hopefully, OCA has been able to straighten out this mess and end the publication of a baseless rumor.