Lyz Lenz, author and writer for the Columbia Journalism Review, says she got a call from Axios CEO Jim VandeHei to complain about a recent article she wrote criticizing Axios and its journalism style.
As you will see, the call did not go well:
got a call on my cell from @JimVandeHei while I was cooking dinner, what follows is a rough transcript, pls enjoy
— Lyz Lenz (@lyzl) November 17, 2018
Me: Hi this is Lyz
JV: Hi Jim Vandehei do you have a minute?
Me: Yeah, like five, I'm getting dinner ready how can I help you?
JV: Did you actually read all the deep dives that you wrote about in
that dopey piece?— Lyz Lenz (@lyzl) November 17, 2018
Me: Every single one, some of them twice
JV: And that's the conclusion you came to?
Me: Yep.
JV: I'm curious who are you?— Lyz Lenz (@lyzl) November 17, 2018
Me: What's this about? Because if you are just calling to yell at me,
this conversation is over.
JV: I am asking a simple question, who are you to write this, because
you are insulting some of the best journalists in the business— Lyz Lenz (@lyzl) November 17, 2018
Me: Okay, well if you are just going to insult me, this conversation
is over, have a good night— Lyz Lenz (@lyzl) November 17, 2018
Female journos quickly came to Lenz’s defense. “What a turd,” tweeted CNN’s Kate Bennett:
this thread. what a turd to call someone on their personal phone in the evening to berate them about a thoughtful story. "who are you to write this" – give (#)me(too) a break. https://t.co/IlVFNcWen8
— Kate Bennett (@KateBennett_DC) November 17, 2018
HuffPost’s Ashley Feinberg called him “thin-skinned”:
it is BREATHTAKING how thin-skinned these people are https://t.co/ENj1Rnzy4n
— Ashley Feinberg (@ashleyfeinberg) November 17, 2018
Mother Jones’ Clara Jeffery called him “a bully”:
what a bully https://t.co/xlEJCXAc5E
— Clara Jeffery (@ClaraJeffery) November 17, 2018
Others called VandeHei out for his “who are you” question:
Leaving aside the actual article, it’s so telling that his first question is “who are you?” That’s the status-based, access-centered question to ask — “who are you to challenge ME?” is really the full sentence that’s implied. https://t.co/dnZcAOc833
— Heidi N. Moore (@moorehn) November 17, 2018
We really don’t think this would be an issue, however, if VandeHei called up a dude like this:
Where to F’n START
Men: doesn’t matter who you are. You don’t get to behave this way https://t.co/e7t41NUTzI
— Kim Bellware (@bellwak) November 17, 2018
It’s truly amazing how fragile some successful men are. Whether it’s Musk or this dude or Trump, one insult sends them over the edge. Either they are ill-equipped for the reality of the world because they were sheltered from it or they hate themselves more than others ever could. https://t.co/eeedle2ZFI
— Alex Leo (@AlexMLeo) November 17, 2018
And Jessica Valenti went as far as to say he was harassing Lenz:
The CEO of Axios apparently thinks it’s just fine to call and harass female reporters who are critical of his site https://t.co/uasgmhCOJ9
— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) November 17, 2018
Oh, this is going to be fun to watch:
A thread confirming everything you’ve ever heard about Jim VandeHei https://t.co/lYl5UFEpDS
— Gillian Brockell (@gbrockell) November 17, 2018
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Editor’s note: We’ve corrected a typo.
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