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Matthew Keys

Matthew Keys34 posts

Matthew Keys is an American journalist, who is the Managing Editor of Grasswire, a social news site. On October 7, 2015, he was found guilty of giving computer credentials to members of the Anonymous group who then hacked into his former employer. He was sentenced to two years in prison.

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9 Jul, 2015

Joins Grasswire

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Keys joins Grasswire.

Austen and I have similar thoughts and ideas when it comes to the future of news gathering and reporting, and I’m incredibly excited at some of the things that are in store for Grasswire’s community that we both hope will provoke and influence the digital news industry.

3 May, 2013

Fired after Keys reveals private messages

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Keller is let go as director of social media for Bloomberg Businessweek after Keys tweets two-month-old private messages from Keller in apparent retaliation for Keller leaking a conversation to Gizmodo in March, when news of Keys’s indictment first broke. In the DMs Keller says, “I f-cking hate it here,” and disparages his employer.

22 Apr, 2013

Fired by Reuters

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Keys is fired by Reuters.

Keys says his independent coverage of the events of the Boston marathon, where he tweeted information from police scanners that ended up being incorrect, was one of the reasons he was given for his termination.

I assume they were looking for an out…It’s my understanding that Reuters did not agree with some of the coverage I did on my own during the Boston Marathon events from last week. And they have a specific set of reasons for the termination which I don’t agree with and the union that represents me does not agree with. We are in agreement, the union and myself, that I have done nothing wrong, that the basis for the termination is incorrect and doesn’t hold any water.

28 Oct, 2010

Leaves Fox 40

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After two and a half years at Fox 40, Keys is pulled up by his boss for criticizing the station’s coverage of a fire at a local mall, from his personal Twitter account. Keys tells his boss that he wants to exert his right to say what he wanted on his personal Twitter feed. His boss tells him to go home and not to work over the weekend. Keys says he cannot guarantee that, and never returns to work. Keys is terminated. He retains the passwords for the company’s content management system.

Jun 2008

Joins Fox 40

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Keys joins Fox40 news as an Online News Producer.

Was a one-man band for two years, updating breaking news, current events, political, entertainment and sports content. Launched social media platforms to promote content and engage with audience.

His title is changed to “Interactive & Mobile Director” with additional job duties two years later.