Emily Wilder was recently hired by the Associated Press — and subsequently fired, purportedly for violating the AP’s social media policy:
Wilder, who worked with the Arizona Republic upon graduation until this May, became a national news story after the Stanford College Republicans wrote a Twitter thread Monday highlighting Wilder’s pro-Palestine activism in college as well as some of her old Facebook posts. In one post, Wilder referred to the late Sheldon Adelson — who was a Jewish billionaire, Republican mega-donor and staunch defender of Israel — as a “naked mole rat.”
…
“They told me that I violated their social media policy and would be terminated immediately, but they never said which tweet or post violated the policy,” she said. “I asked them, ‘Please tell me what violated the policy,’ and they said, ‘No.'”
An Associated Press spokesperson confirmed to SFGATE that Wilder “was dismissed for violations of AP’s social media policy during her time at AP,” but did not address any other issue Wilder raised, stating that the AP generally does not comment on personnel matters.
Wilder said that because her editor originally noted that “everyone had opinions in college,” she sees her firing as selective enforcement against those who have expressed criticisms of Israel.
If Wilder indeed lost her job for opinions she expressed in college and not as an employee of the AP, it seems reasonable to put this in the “cancel culture” pile, even if you disagree with Wilder’s views.
Amazing how quickly a talented young reporter's career can be snuffed out by a Twitter mob that decided to feign outrage over some college tweets. And if @vv1lder somehow violated @AP's social-media rules, the solution is to offer guidance, not termination, to a new reporter. pic.twitter.com/PuGAwN0Aot
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) May 20, 2021
It’s also reasonable to roll your eyes at tweets like Glenn Kessler’s, given the rabid enthusiasm with which the woke Left tries to cancel conservatives and anyone who has ever expressed an opinion with which they disagree.
Good god. Is this the first time you've seen such….canceling ? You should check this site more often. It happens almost weekly. 🤔
— Jon Nicosia (@NewsPolitics) May 20, 2021
But it's okay when people you hate get destroyed over college tweets, right?
— Jay (@OneFineJay) May 21, 2021
What you should probably say is, "Amazing how quickly the left's cancel culture spun out of control."
It's all a big shrug of the shoulders until it happens to a journalist, isn't it?
— Aldous Huxley's Ghost™ (@AF632) May 20, 2021
It's just accountability culture, Glenn what's the problem? https://t.co/PfSBssE5TU
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) May 20, 2021
Wow these rules we created really suck when they're applied to us.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) May 20, 2021
Yeah, cancel culture sucks. Welcome to the party. Better late than never.
— Tsukkomi Variant (@ljenkins314) May 21, 2021
We’ll give Jeff Blehar the last word, as he puts this issue in perspective quite well:
it was a mistake for him to tweet this. https://t.co/C8R2xlJ1jM
— Jeff B. is *BOX OFFICE POISON* (@EsotericCD) May 21, 2021
this is the life you have chosen. this is the culture you wanted. this is the way it has to be now, because a unilateral cease-fire just gets everyone on one side massacred. we tried to warn you, we even begged for mercy. but no, this is the way it has to be now.
— Jeff B. is *BOX OFFICE POISON* (@EsotericCD) May 21, 2021
some responses seem to think that i APPROVE of all this, that i sit back with some kind of smug satisfaction about it. you couldn't be more wrong. this is depressing and destructive and should be ended immediately.
but i understand how tit-for-tat works. it's not going away.
— Jeff B. is *BOX OFFICE POISON* (@EsotericCD) May 21, 2021
there is zero incentive structure for showing grace, kindness, or mercy to people on the other side, particularly when you know none will be shown to you. martyrs are martyrs precisely because so few people IRL actually want to go out there and metaphorically "die" for a cause.
— Jeff B. is *BOX OFFICE POISON* (@EsotericCD) May 21, 2021
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