As Twitchy told you earlier, the Washington Post suspended reporter Felicia Sonmez, possibly over her decidedly tasteless tweets in the wake of Kobe Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash. Or maybe she was suspended for tweeting a screenshot of her WaPo email inbox, which revealed the full names of emailers.
In any event, Sonmez was suspended, and the Washington Post Guild, the employees’ union, is not taking this sitting down:
Our statement in support of our colleague, Felicia Sonmez: https://t.co/2GDbANeybb
— Washington Post Guild (@PostGuild) January 27, 2020
From the union’s statement:
Felicia received an onslaught of violent messages, including threats that contained her home address, in the wake of a tweet Sunday regarding Kobe Bryant. Instead of protecting and supporting a reporter in the face of abuse, The Post placed her on administrative leave while newsroom leaders review whether she violated the social media policy. Felicia had to leave her home out of fear for her safety and has gotten insufficient guidance from the Post on how to protect herself.
We understand the hours after Bryant’s death Sunday were a fraught time to share reporting about past accusations of sexual assault. The loss of such a beloved figure, and of so many other lives, is a tragedy. But we believe it is our responsibility as a news organization to tell the public the whole truth as we know it — about figures and institutions both popular and unpopular, at moments timely and untimely.This is not the first time that The Post has sought to control how Felicia speaks on matters of sexual violence. Felicia herself is a survivor of assault who bravely came forward with her story two years ago. When articles attacking her were published in other outlets, The Post did not release a statement in support of one of its respected political reporters. Instead, management issued a warning letter against Felicia for violating The Post’s vague and inconsistently enforced social media guidelines.
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Sonmez’s suspension may seem like overkill on its face, but the Guild’s contention that she’s entirely a victim is disingenous:
Wow. Felicia Somnez suspended by @WashingtonPost . I don’t like to see people punished for tweets. But note in final paragraph the link to a letter where Ms. Somnez tried to get Caitlin Flanagan fired from the Atlantic. https://t.co/aQbd7WK5Tw via @NYTimes
— Christina Sommers ? (@CHSommers) January 27, 2020
Sonmez indeed tried to get the Atlantic’s Caitlin Flanagan fired for mocking her (and calling Ilhan Omar “an evil person, which had nothing to do with anything):
Looks like article was changed. Here is link that used to be there. pic.twitter.com/K6naxY0ts3
— Christina Sommers ? (@CHSommers) January 27, 2020
So Sonmez is getting a taste of the medicine she tried to give Caitlin Flanagan. Seems like something worth mentioning.
It's fun watching the media band together in support of a reporter who tried to get another member of the media fired for wrongthink.
We
See
You.— Oh THAT Guy (@NathanWurtzel) January 27, 2020
In any event, though, Sonmez appears to have been the catalyst for another WaPo headache, and it’s hard to feel sorry for them at this point. We only wish we could be around for the WaPo’s discussion of the union’s list of demands.
Any other demands, guys? https://t.co/0pFwcZk4J6 pic.twitter.com/PrVPH1Bz5X
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) January 27, 2020
Post gets everything they deserve here, from her stupid tweets, to the suspension to the dumb union now demanding they hand over the city of Baltimore to her.
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) January 27, 2020
"We demand a statue of Felicia Somnez in the pose of the brave fearless girl statue, but placed directly next to a statue of Kobe Bryant, at such time one is built outside the Staples Center"
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) January 27, 2020
"Furthermore, once the crash site is secure and plans break ground for a memorial, we demand a bronze wall be built on the hillside for all of Malibu to witness, in honor of our fallen journalists that day."
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) January 27, 2020
Have fun with this, WaPo.
Scumbags who are bad at their jobs, unite! https://t.co/uJbYX7r5kG
— Anthony Bialy (@AnthonyBialy) January 27, 2020
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