FOX pulls story connecting GWU student suicide to Obama speech

Fox News sparked criticism this week for publishing an article appearing to suggest that President Obama's speech Wednesday at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. was linked to a student's suicide.

But Burgess Everett reports for Politico's On Media that Fox has now removed the article, "GWU Suicide Tragically Coincides with Obama Speech," after being contacted by GWU.

"We were contacted by the university and decided it would be best to take down the story, although nothing was factually inaccurate," a Fox spokesperson said in a statement to Politico.

University spokeswoman Candace Smith told Politico the institution reached out to "express our concern that the story drew conclusions that were not accurate." She added that the decision to remove the story "was a wise one."

Following reports a male GWU student was found dead in his room Wednesday afternoon, an article by Kelly Chernenkoff appeared on the "America's Election HQ" Politics section of FoxNews.com that included the following:

George Washington University students in Washington, D.C. learned of a tragic coincidence of timing on their campus Wednesday. As President Obama delivered a speech on deficit reduction in the Jack Morton Auditorium, university officials were learning one of their students had committed suicide in his dorm room across campus...

...GWU officials tell Fox that police were notified about the incident around 2pm, which happens to be at the same time that President Obama was speaking. A source tells Fox that the incident may have occurred earlier, noting that police went knocking on the student's door at 1:30pm. As of this writing, Fox has not been able to obtain reaction from the White House.

The article sparked outrage from the left and elsewhere Wednesday for appearing to make a connection between the tragic event and Obama's fiscal speech on campus. The Atlantic Wire's John Hudson notes that protests appeared on Reddit, Gawker, The Daily Kos and the Huffington Post. Mediaite also ran a critical breakdown of the story.

A Facebook group called "HOLD CHERNENKOFF AND FOX NEWS ACCOUNTABLE" was also started by students to protest the article.

"THE ARTICLE IS DOWN. NOW IT IS TIME FOR AN APOLOGY" the website stated Friday morning.

(Photo of Obama speaking Wednesday at GWU: Susan Walsh/AP)