The British online newspaper Guardian has had to remove 13 articles accused of being "fabricated".

Following accusations that a contributor fabricated news, the British newspaper The Guardian decided to remove 13 of their articles from its website and issue a public apology.

The British newspaper The Guardian has removed 13 articles from its website following an investigation into allegations that a freelance journalist working for the newspaper fabricated information.

Ms. Gledinning, Editor-in-Chief of the Guardian's US edition (UK). Photo: Guardian.

In a statement, Lee Glendinning, editor-in-chief of the American edition of the newspaper, said the articles in question belonged to contributor Joseph Mayton, who has written more than 60 articles for The Guardian.

Mayton began collaborating with The Guardian in May 2015.

In her statement, Glendinning said the Guardian became suspicious after sources complained that they had never spoken to Mayton to provide information for any articles he might write about them.

These "victims" then hired people to proofread Mayton's articles and find further evidence of fabrication in his journalistic work: There were numerous reports from event organizers stating that Mayton did not attend, and individuals denying having spoken with the reporter.

Mr. Mayton has denied doing anything wrong in his exchanges with the Guardian editors.

The Guardian reported: “The editors met privately with Mayton twice and emailed him dozens of times, giving him more than a month from the initial allegations to provide notes, phone recordings, communications and other evidence. He was unable or unwilling to provide information on most of his sources.”

In addition to removing articles, the Guardian is also reviewing its guidelines on using contributors and examining its use of anonymous sources, according to a statement from the Guardian.

The newspaper wrote: “We want to apologize to those whose statements were misinterpreted or fabricated. We want to apologize to our readers for these errors and hope this does not affect the trust you place in our newspaper. We pledge to do better in the future.”

According to VOV