INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has halted the development of a state-run news website after days of criticism over its plans to offer prewritten stories.

Pence announced his decision to scrap the “Just IN'' website in a Thursday memo to leaders of state agencies.

The Indianapolis Star on Monday published internal documents that detailed plans to have stories and news releases written by state press secretaries for the public and the media. The documents said the site at times would break news.

The notion of pre-written stories for the media sparked criticism from journalists around the country, who likened the endeavor to state-run media in Russia and China.

Pence's team scrambled this week to portray the website as a project aimed at better organizing and presenting news releases from state agencies.