The AP was duped by a fake press release announcing that GE would donate its $3.2 billion tax refund to the U.S. government. Craig Silverman spoke with the press release's author, Justin Wedes:
“I don’t attribute [AP’s mistake] to the speed of the news cycle,” Wedes said. “We have very intelligent reporters out there. I attribute it to the fact that this is what people wanted to hear.”
The Dish 