“Bisexual”: The Washington Post’s sexist tweet and “war” of journalists

In one ruthless “war” in Twitter were served by its journalists Washington Post on the occasion of one tweet by journalist David Weigel, which was considered sexist and “Backs” given to him by his colleague, Jose Del Real.

Let’s take the things from the beginning. THE Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper, Sally Buzbee, sent a statement to reporters at the weekend, demanding that “they treat each other with respect and courtesy” a few days after the Felicia Sonmez had “scolded” Weigl who retweeted a sexist joke.

«Every girl has something double. You just have to find out if she is bipolar or bisexual. “ wrote the post retweeted by the political editor of the Washington Post, provoking the reaction of his colleague, Felicia Sonmez, who wrote “how nice to work in a newspaper in which such posts are allowed “.

THE Sonmez had sued the Washington Post last year for barring her from covering stories of sexual harassment when she revealed she had survived an attack. The lawsuit was dismissed last month.

Weigel later retweeted and wrote: “I just downloaded the retweet of an offensive joke. I apologize and I did not want to hurt anyone».

But, obviously the apology was not enough for the newspaper editors and on Monday, the Weigel was made available for one month unpaidaccording to imgs cited by CNN.

THE David Weigel

“Leaders made it clear to staff that the tweet was reprehensible and that derogatory language or actions like this would not be tolerated,” he told the New York Post. the Washington Post COO, Kris Coratti.

New round on Twitter: “We all did it at some point”

Things could have ended that way, relatively painlessly but when Jose Del Real scolded Sonmez because she published her complaints about Weigel’s retweet, it started new round of confrontation between the newspaper’s journalists on Twitter.

Jose Del Real

Del Real admitted that Weigel’s retweet was “terrible and unacceptable” but he also put up with Sonmez who “ran to hack him on the internet for a mistake he made”.

Del Real, a journalist who writes about American life and politics, stressed that Sonmez’s tactics “do not solve anything.” «Felicia, we can all be mad at some point. Publicly harassing a colleague repeatedly and purposefully is neither good nor effective. It turns the language of camaraderie into a hunt for influence and intimidation. I do not think this is appropriate… You can always choose to treat the other with compassion. “ wrote Del Real on Twitter.

His tweets angered Sonmez even more, who accused him of “responding with more vitriolAnd publicly asked Buzbee and another Washington Post editorial team leader, Matea Gold, if they agreed.

Felicia Sonmez

«Standing up to sexism is not a “hunt for influence, it is not harassment and it is certainly not barbaric”Sonmez replied to Del Real.

According to a CNN report, cited by New York PostGold sent a message to the employees of the Wshington Post on Slack and wrote: “I want to assure you that the newspaper remains committed to building an environment of respect for all and we will not tolerate derogatory words or actions.”

“I’m unaware of your attempt to turn a specific critique of the regular public bullying you are doing into a sermon on principles. “Weigel’s retweet was strongly condemned inside the newspaper and as a ‘gay Mexican-American’ I do not need your hints as to what it means to be from a marginalized group,” Del Real told Sonmez.

Over the weekend, Sonmez continued to tweet about the issue, posting supportive comments as well as non-flattering and half-hearted messages she received from critics.

The memo of the editor-in-chief did not extinguish the “fire”

On Sunday, the New York Times reported that Buzbee sends “Respect and Courtesy” memo to reporters.

“We expect the staff to treat each other with respect and courtesy both in the editorial office and on the internet. We are a fellow and creative editorial office doing pioneering journalism. One of the great advantages of our newsroom is our spirit of cooperation. The Washington Post is committed to a work environment that is respectful, free from harassment, discrimination, or prejudice. “When issues arise, please report them to management or the HR department and we will address them promptly and decisively,” Buzbee wrote in a message to employees.

Nevertheless Buzbee’s memo further angered Sonmez, who said it “gives way to more offensive comments and harassment.” He then posted several tweets with crude and half-hearted language from random Twitter users.

Η Sally Buzbee,Η Sally Buzbee,Sally Buzbee,
Sally Buzbee

Del Real also posted some more tweets about the incident but did not address or name Sonmez and then said he had temporarily disabled his Twitter account, “in the hope of de-escalation”. “Wounded people hurt people. “We can just be kinder to each other.”

The Washington Post, before the. Internal turmoil, was forced to publish two lengthy corrections in an article by its well-known “culture of the internet” journalist Taylor Lorenz. The article, as reported by the New York Post, described in detail phow content creators made a lot of money from the scandalous Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation lawsuit that ended last week.

The paper has also been criticized for its role in publishing Heard’s most infamous article, which sparked a defamation lawsuit filed by Johnny Depp.


Source: News Beast

You may also like