You know what sounds like a really fun place to work? The Washington Post.
We are getting a look into the workplace dynamics of the nation’s “2nd most important” print media provider thanks to a series of social media posts and internal email leaks over the past few days. It started over the weekend, when reporter Dave Weigel retweeted a joke that some could consider to be misogynistic, able-ist, and anti-queer–but that most guys today would chuckle at, nod in affirmation, and post the Morgan Freeman meme where he is pointing upwards and saying “He’s right you know”. But as Weigel became the target of Twitter hatred and outcry, he deleted the retweet and issued the required public apology for “offending anyone”.
However, that was not enough for Weigel’s co-worker at the Post, Felicia Sonmez, who quote-tweeted the retweet with, “Fantastic to work at a news outlet where retweets like this are allowed!” When replies to that post pointed out that the original retweet was taken down and that an apology was written, Sonmez went for several additional tweets alleging widespread sexism in journalism and “@-ing” her bosses at the Post demanding action against Weigel.
That screed led another WaPo reporter, Jose Del Real, to accuse Sonmez of using the public forum to “turn the language of inclusivity into clout chasing and bullying”. Del Real also suggested Sonmez consider acting with “compassion”. That led to additional quote tweets from Sonmez accusing Del Real of “publicly attacking” her–and once again, “@-ing” executives at the Post.
To his credit, Del Real did not back down in the face of continued social media pressure, telling Sonmez to “reconsider the cruelty you regularly unleash against colleagues” and arguing that she was “making a specific critique of your regular public bullying into a sweeping opera about principles”. Del Real then took out his own victim hammer and told Sonmez that “as a gay Mexican American, you don’t need to educate me on being from a marginalized group”.
Further insight into what its like to be in the newsroom at the Washington Post came when a reporter at the New York Times released internal emails sent to Post employees from management telling everyone to calm down and let the process play out within the company. That was met with a “reply all” from video technician Breanna Muir that stated she was still waiting for management to take action against her boss, Micah Gelman, for calling her “Breanna Taylor” in a tweet about live video coverage of a story back in February. Again, Gelman issued an apology and a corrected tweet, but Muir claims the initial post “makes it extremely hard for women to do their best work”.
Anyways, we have since learned that Dave Weigel has been suspended without pay for one month for retweeting a joke that he did not tell himself, did not say in the presence of anyone in the workplace, did not “@” any of his co-workers, deleted, and apologized for.
This is actually strike two against Weigel in his Washington Post career. He was fired in 2010 after Fox News was provided with his email archive, which featured a number of disparaging comments about high-profile conservatives like Rush Limbaugh, Pat Buchanan, and Newt Gingrich. As one commenter on the current Post dust-up pointed out, that punishment was handed out in a time that news outlets (while accepting it internally) were still trying to put on the public perception that they did not have personal disdain for those they cover–which today is used as a selling point for subscribers and viewers. It was his continued dogging of such people in other on-line forums that led to the Post bring Weigel back as a reporter in 2015.
There are some additional bits of wonderful irony in the Weigel-Sonmez battle. She ran afoul of the Twitter mob herself on the day basketball star Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash by posting links to stories about his sexual assault allegations in Colorado and stating that that is the way “he should be remembered”. Sonmez was suspended by her bosses at the Post–and Weigel was among those that signed onto a letter of support demanding that she be reinstated. She also recently sued the Post claiming sexual discrimination in not being allowed to write stories about sexual assault and abuse–after publicly disclosing her own status as a victim of sexual assault and the continued therapy and counseling that she is undergoing to deal with the trauma.
Now, the situation at the Washington Post is certainly not unique in the modern workplace. I have spoken with people in Human Resources both in the public and private sector who say claims of “toxic workplaces” and “micro-aggressions” are becoming more and more common. And like the battle between some of the Post reporters, they have to weigh competing claims of “victimization” and decide who is “more aggrieved”–all in a culture where termination is the only “acceptable” outcome demanded by the complainants.
This very public kerfuffle in Washington comes as the Post starts celebrating the 50th anniversary of its greatest moment–the reporting of Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward that led to the uncovering of the cover-up by the Nixon administration of its direct involvement in the Watergate break-in. I sure hope those two never told any inappropriate jokes in the newsroom–or the paper will have to disavow and discredit all of that great work.
