The intrepid, social media savvy New York Times media reporter Brian Stelter pulled an Anthony Weiner—he tweeted a message that was supposed to be a direct message.

Thankfully for Stelter, the message didn’t involve anything carnal, but instead the details of a story he was working on, plus his phone number.

The tweet said:

“I'm hearing that Amanpour is formally out of ‘This Week’—though only from a single source—are you hearing the same? 212-556-4668”

He was referring to Christine Amanpour. Rumors have swirled that she’s planning to return to CNN.

Stelter’s tweet was retweeted numerous times, and he quickly followed it up with this tweet:

“Well that was embarrassing. That was supposed to be a DM.”

To his credit, Stelter didn’t delete the original tweet. He explained why in another tweet:

“3 reasons I didn't delete accidental tweet: people had already read it; some had retweeted it; it needed to be explained.”

Turns out the source he referenced was the New York Post’s “Page Six.” Stelter published a blog post this afternoon on The New York Times website on the alleged Amanpour move.

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